CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – For the first time since March 7, 2020, No. 14/15 Harvard men's ice hockey will return to the ice for a game that counts - a span of 601 days - when the Crimson heads to Dartmouth on Oct. 29 (8 p.m., ESPN+) to kick off the 2021-22 season. Fourteen players have never worn the Harvard jersey before entering the year, a group that includes eight first-years and six sophomores. When Harvard last played, it had clinched a spot in the 2020 ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals against RPI with a 7-1 victory over St. Lawrence in Game 2 of its first round series on home ice.  On March 11, 2020 Harvard pulled out of the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals due to the COVID-19 crisis and subsequently did not play during the 2020-21 season.
 
Harvard returns to Cambridge on Oct. 30 for its home opener against Bentley (8 p.m., ESPN+) at Bright-Landry Hockey Center.
 
How to Follow
Watch: ESPN+ (Dartmouth) l ESPN+ (Bentley) l International (Dartmouth/Bentley)
Live Stats: at Dartmouth | vs. Bentley
Game Notes: Harvard 
Tickets (at Dartmouth) | (vs. Bentley)
Harvard Spectator Attendance Policy
Harvard Winter Yearbook/Game Program
Social Media: @HarvardMHockey | #GoCrimson | #OneCrimson

What to Know
• Friday's game marks the 222nd contest between Harvard and Dartmouth in men's ice hockey, with the Crimson winning five games in a row in the series. Harvard owns a 141-67-13 record. Harvard and Bentley have met five times, with the Crimson winning all five meetings.
 
• Harvard and Dartmouth last met on Feb, 7, 2020 at Thompson Arena, with the Crimson earning a 6-2 victory over the Big Green. Six different goal-scorers helped the Crimson in that contest, as returners Austin Wong, Nick Abruzzese, and John Farinacci all scored goals.  Then-first-year goaltender Mitchell Gibson made 22 saves to earn the win in net. Harvard and Bentley last met on Dec. 4, 2018 at Bentley, with Harvard earning a 2-1 win.
 
• Harvard finished the 2019-20 season at 15-10-6 overall, with a 11-6-5 mark in ECAC Hockey play, finishing fifth in the conference standings...First-year forward Nick Abruzzese had a historic first season with the Crimson, recording 44 points (14 goals, 30 assists) in 31 games, leading all NCAA first-years in scoring en route to his ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year selection. Abruzzese had the most points by a first-year in the Ted Donato era. Defenseman Jack Rathbone also had an excellent campaign with 31 points in 28 games. Both Rathbone (First Team) and Abruzzese (Second Team) were named AHCA All-Americans. Harvard played the first college hockey games in the state of California since 1999 with the SoCal Clash series (Dec. 28-29, 2019) against Arizona State in Irvine, and also defeated Yale, 7-0, in the Rivalry on Ice contest (Jan. 11, 2020) at Madison Square Garden.
 
• Harvard's class of 2021 completed their careers with the Crimson without taking the ice as seniors, a group that included defenseman Reilly Walsh (96 games), and forwards Henry Bowlby (84 games) and Jack Badini (97 games).  Additionally, would-be 2021-22 seniors Jack Drury (Vaxjo Lakers/Carolina) and Jack Rathbone (Vancouver) signed professional contracts to forgo their final season of eligibility.
 
• However, Harvard returns five of its top 10 scorers and four of its top 6 defensemen from the 2019-20 team. Junior forward Nick Abruzzese (14-30-44), senior forward Casey Dornbach (12-24-36), and junior forward John Farinacci (10-12-22) headline the returning group of forwards, while junior defenseman Henry Thrun (3-18-21), junior defenseman Ryan Siedem (31 games), and senior defenseman Marshall Rifai (36 games) are all experienced blueliners for the Crimson.

At the Helm
Following success as a player, Harvard head coach Ted Donato has compiled a long list of accomplishments as head coach of the Crimson. The former Harvard captain has guided Harvard to four ECAC Hockey titles and three Ivy League championships, claimed six NCAA Tournament berths, coached 13 All-Americans and 17 National Hockey Leaguers. Donato, who won an NCAA Championship as a Harvard player in 1989 and enjoyed a 13-year NHL career, has represented Team USA at the World Junior Championships, multiple World Championships, and was the leading scorer of the 1992 Olympic Team in Albertville, France.
 
Up Next
Harvard will host No. 15/16 Cornell and Colgate next weekend (Nov. 5-6) at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center. Both games will start at 7 p.m..