This weekend, the Harvard men's hockey team gets its third chance to win a tournament this year.

The runner-up in the Beanpot and ECAC tournaments, the Crimson (22-7-1 overall) will have the opportunity to prove its high preseason ranking was no fluke when Western Michigan (32-10) comes to Cambridge for the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament.

The two-game, total-goal series begins with a 7:30 p.m. contest at Bright Center Friday.

A second game is scheduled for the same time Saturday.

Plenty of tickets remain for both contests. Tickets are $7 and can be purchased in the basement of Harvard Hall.

Neither game is expected to sell-out, and Harvard ticket officials estimate that between 1700 and 1800 spectators will be on hand for each contest.

"Western Michigan, being from Kalamazoo, doesn't look like they'll bring many people," ticket official Keith Kozlowski says. "If we played Michigan State or Michigan, there are lots of alumni in the area."

Harvard is not the only local team that will host an opening round match.

Boston University, the top seed in the East in the eight team tournament, will face-off against Minnesota this weekend in its own Walter Brown Arena.

B.U. ticket officials expect sell-outs for both Friday and Saturday games, but over 500 tickets remain for both contests.

Three years ago, Harvard hosted Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and both of the weekend games were sell-outs.

This year, Western Michigan brings a cast of characters to Cambridge every bit as colorful as the MSU crew that visited in 1983.

The Broncos have the nation's leading scorer in Dan Dorian (40 goals, 61 assists) and the country's top power play (35.2 percent efficiency rate).

Western Michigan is riding a 12 game winning streak and has won 17 of its last 18 contests.

The Broncos knocked off Michigan State, then the number one team in the country, 3-1, in the championship game of the CCHA Tournament two weeks ago.