When a would-be buzzer-beater rolled off the rim, Cinderella left early for the first time in three years, however, starting an offseason of turnover. Four members of the eight-man rotation, including two first-team All-Ivy talents in Steve Moundou-Missi and Wesley Saunders, graduated in May. Three months later, starting point guard Siyani Chambers tore his ACL in practice; by early September he had left campus, taking a leave of absence to preserve his eligibility. The occupants of the throne are hardly recognizable.

As Harvard women’s hockey sophomore Haley Mullins and McGill’s Melodie Daoust wait at the faceoff circle, a 5’6” goaltender from Bruderheim, Alberta stands in the Crimson crease. The puck drops. It’s the beginning of the end of Emerance Maschmeyer’s Harvard career.

After the Crimson suffered a first-round exit at the hands of Nebraska-Omaha in the NCAA tournament, a different kind of uncertainty resurfaced: not whether or not Blackwell would return to form, but whether or not he would return to Harvard.

For three of Harvard’s new coaches—Mike Roux, Heidi Banks, and Jasmine Sborov—the opportunity to join such a legacy with head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith was one they simply couldn’t pass up.

All eyes are now on the No. 9/9 Harvard women’s hockey team as it begins its 2015-2016 season with sights set on not only making it to the national championship game once again, but also taking home the trophy.

With a roster loaded with juniors and seniors, this may be the year for Harvard to strike while the iron is hot and make a serious run to the Frozen Four in Tampa Bay, Fla.

The team’s biggest loss came over the summer when co-captain and starting point guard Siyani Chambers tore his ACL. Chambers, who has consistently been deemed the team’s most important player over the last three seasons by Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, was slated to be the focal point of the Crimson offense and the team’s floor general this season before the injury derailed that plan.

The Harvard women’s basketball team enters the 2015-2016 season with seven new freshman faces. While all were standouts in high school, competing for the Ivy League championship poses new challenges and a different level of competition.