2021–22 Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey season
ECAC tournament, Champion NCAA tournament, East Regional semifinal
Conference	T–2nd ECAC Hockey
Home ice	Bright-Landry Hockey Center
Rankings
USCHO	15
USA Today	15
Record
Overall	21–11–3
Conference	14–6–2
Home	13–4–0
Road	6–5–2
Neutral	2–2–1
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Ted Donato
Assistant coaches	Jim Tortorella James Marcou Brian Robinson
Captain(s)	Nick Abruzzese Casey Dornbach
Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey seasons « 2020–21 2022–23 »

The 2021–22 Harvard Crimson Men's ice hockey season was the 121st season of play for the program. The represented Harvard University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season and for the 60th season in the ECAC Hockey conference. The Crimson were coached by Ted Donato, in his 17th season, and played their home games at Bright-Landry Hockey Center.

Returning after losing an entire season to the COVID-19 pandemic, Harvard shot out of the starting gate. The team rode a hail of offensive firepower to four wins, including one over long-time rival Cornell. The Crimson swiftly found themselves ranked in the top-10, but the lofty position did not last for long. Over the succeeding four weeks, Harvard's scoring all but vanished and the team won just once in six matches. The squad did not fully recover until after the winter break but, even then, inconsistent play sent them sliding down the rankings.

Throughout the entire season, Harvard never once found itself below .500; however, the Crimson were hampered by the general weakness of their conference. While Harvard was able to recover after missing a year, many of their compatriots were near the bottom of the national rankings. This meant that conference wins were not particularly helpful while most losses were severely taxing. To make matters worse, when Harvard played in the Beanpot, the best chance for the team to gain in the PairWise, Boston College was having an unusually bad year and going winless in the tournament dealt a serious blow to Harvard's postseason hopes. Evan a win over #4 Quinnipiac near the end of the year did not markedly improve their chances and when their regular season came to a close, Harvard had no chance to make the NCAA tournament without a conference championship.

The Crimson received a bye into the quarterfinal round but the time off did not appear to help. Harvard found itself down 0–3 to Rensselaer and was unable to score at even strength. Desperate to give his team an advantage, Ted Donato was forced to pull Mitchell Gibson with about 5 minutes to play but the ploy worked. Harvard scored three times with an extra attacker, the last with just 15 seconds remaining in regulation, and tied the game. With all of the momentum now in the Crimson's favor, the team took charge in overtime and Jack Donato won the game after just a couple of minutes. The team found its position reversed in the second game when, after taking an early 2–0 lead, Harvard surrendered three consecutive goals and had to fight to tie the game for a second straight match. While they were able to do so, Rensselaer fought hard in the overtime and managed to secure the winning marker just after the start of the fifth period. In the rubber match, the defense finally put together a complete game and held the Engineers off of the scoresheet for more than 56 minutes. RPI managed to score their only goal of the game late in the third but it was not enough to overcome Harvard's lead and the Crimson escaped with a series victory.

Harvard faced Clarkson in the semifinal and came out swinging. The Crimson twice took a lead in the game but the Golden Knights quickly replied both times. By the start of the third period it appeared that Harvard was going to be sunk by taking bad penalties, but their top line surged in the final frame. Nick Abruzzese, Matthew Coronato and Sean Farrell, who had already combined for five points, spearheaded the Crimson comeback and scored three goals in the third. While the team took two more penalties, their defense held and stopped Clarkson from replying, sending the Crimson to the conference title game.

With their hopes of a postseason bid nearly achieved, Harvard had to get past the stingiest defense in the country. The team's offense was severely limited in scoring opportunities, recording just 12 shots in regulation to Quinnipiac's 42, but the Crimson were able to get two past Yaniv Perets and push the game into overtime. The opportunities were much more even in the extra session and, about mid-way through the period, Harvard's top line was again the hero when Coronato fired the winning goal from the top of the left circle.^[1]

Harvard's reward for winning their conference title was being placed opposite the #1 team in the nation, Minnesota State. The Mavericks had lost just once since late November and looked primed for a championship run. The game was playing out as expected with MSU dominating play and taking a 3–0 lead before the match was half over. The Crimson looked like they were going to be swept out of the building until Sean Farrell fired a puck from behind the goal line that deflected off of Dryden McKay and into the net. The luck break was just what the team needed and, less than a minute later, Harvard had cut the deficit to 1. Minnesota State halted the Crimson charge in the third, regaining their 2-goal edge, but Harvard would not surrender so easily. After forcing the Mavericks into a penalty in the final 5 minutes, Gibson was pulled and Casey Dornbach scored on the ensuing two-man advantage. In the final minutes, Harvard went on total attack with their goaltender sitting on the bench. Coronato twice had looks at a half-empty cage but was not able to get a shot on goal. In the end the comeback bid fell just short and Harvard's season was over.^[2]

Player	Position	Nationality	Cause
Nick Azar	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (retired)
Ben Foley	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (retired)
Jackson Hartje	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (retired)
Buddy Mrowka	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (retired)
John Murray	Forward	United States	Left program (retired)
Mitchell Perrault	Forward	United States	Graduation (retired)
Ben Solin	Forward	United States	Graduation (retired)

Player	Position	Nationality	Age	Notes
Kyle Aucoin	Defenseman	Canada	19	Ottawa, ON; selected 156th overall in 2020
Jack Bar	Defenseman	Canada	18	Newmarket, ON; selected 138th overall in 2021
Matthew Coronato	Forward	United States	18	Greenlawn, NY; selected 13th overall in 2021
Alex Gaffney	Forward	United States	19	West Orange, NJ
Christian Jimenez	Defenseman	United States	19	Yorktown Heights, NY
Zakary Karpa	Forward	United States	19	Newport Beach, CA
Luke Khozozian	Forward	United States	21	Lexington, MA; joined mid-season
Tommy Lyons	Forward	United States	21	Westwood, MA
Ian Moore	Defenseman	United States	19	Salt Lake City, UT; selected 67th overall in 2020

As of September 23, 2021.^[3]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Max Miller	Sophomore	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-08-02	Ann Arbor, Michigan	Janesville (NAHL)	—
2		Ian Moore	Freshman	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-01-04	Concord, Massachusetts	Chicago (USHL)	ANA, 67th overall 2020
3		Henry Thrun	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2001-03-12	Southborough, Massachusetts	Dubuque (USHL)	ANA, 101 overall 2019
6		John Fusco	Freshman	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-06-13	Westwood, Massachusetts	Sioux City (USHS–MA)	TOR, 189th overall 2020
7		R. J. Murphy	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-10-02	Needham, Massachusetts	West Kelowna (BCHL)	—
8		Alex Gaffney	Freshman	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2002-06-25	West Orange, New Jersey	Waterloo (USHL)	—
10		Jack Donato	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1997-09-18	Scituate, Massachusetts	South Shore (USPHL)	—
14		Jace Foskey	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2000-06-01	Southlake, Texas	Lone Star (NAHL)	—
15		Luke Khozozian	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-04-21	Weston, Massachusetts	East Coast (EHL)	—
15		Alex Laferriere	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	2001-10-28	Chatham, New Jersey	Des Moines (USHL)	LAK, 83rd overall 2020
16		Nick Abruzzese (C)	Junior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	1999-06-04	Slate Hill, New York	Chicago (USHL)	TOR, 124th overall 2019
17		John Farinacci	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-02-14	Red Bank, New Jersey	Muskegon (USHL)	ARI, 76th overall 2019
19		Matthew Coronato	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-11-14	Greenlawn, New York	Chicago (USHL)	CGY, 13th overall 2021
20		Tommy Lyons	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-04-01	East Falmouth, Massachusetts	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
21		Sean Farrell	Sophomore	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2001-11-02	Hopkinton, Massachusetts	Chicago (USHL)	MTL, 124th overall 2020
22		Ryan Siedem	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	2001-02-25	Madison, New Jersey	Fargo (USHL)	—
23		Baker Shore	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1999-08-20	Englewood, Colorado	Chicago (USHL)	—
24		Jack Bar	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2002-10-24	Newmarket, Ontario	Chicago (USHL)	DAL, 138th overall 2021
26		Ryan Drkulec	Freshman	F	6' 6" (1.98 m)	197 lb (89 kg)	2000-09-22	Mansfield, Texas	Lone Star (NAHL)	—
27		Austin Wong	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2000-08-26	Calgary, Alberta	Fargo (USHL)	WPG, 215th overall 2018
30		Derek Schaedig	Senior	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-05-13	Chelsea, Michigan	Lincoln (USHL)	—
33		Kyle Aucoin	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2002-07-02	Ottawa, Ontario	Muskegon (USHL)	DET, 156th overall 2020
35		Derek Mullahy	Sophomore	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2001-03-20	Scituate, Massachusetts	Des Moines (USHL)	—
43		Christian Jimenez	Freshman	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2002-03-15	Yorktown Heights, New York	Sioux City (USHL)	—
44		Mitchell Gibson	Junior	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1999-06-25	Phoenixville, Pennsylvania	Central Illinois (USHL)	WSH, 124th overall 2018
46		Marshall Rifai	Senior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-03-16	Beaconsfield, Quebec	Des Moines (USHL)	—
47		Casey Dornbach (C)	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1997-07-07	Edina, Minnesota	Lincoln (USHL)	—
59		Zakary Karpa	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2002-03-25	Newport Beach, California	Des Moines (USHL)	—
96		Wyllum Deveaux	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2000-08-30	Sackville, Nova Scotia	Des Moines (USHL)	—

^[5]

Note: Gibson and Schaedig shared the shutout against Princeton on February 27.

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.^[6]

† incoming freshman ^[14]