Although it lacks the depth of Cornell's, Harvard's offense should be greatly improved. It not only welcomes back 12 returning forwards, including last year's leading scorer, sophomore Rob Millar, but it will also be bolstered by seven freshmen impact players.

"We generate a lot of shots," Tomassoni said. "I still think that we have to work a little harder on getting inside for that second or third shot because that's where most of the goals are scored."

The key, however, will be staying out of the penalty box.

In Harvard's only exhibition game, against McGill last Saturday, the two teams amassed a total of 72 penalty minutes. And although the special team units got quite a workout, McGill can hold no candle to the Cornell power play.

"I thought that we did a real nice job killing penalties [against McGill]," Tomassoni said. "Though I wouldn't want to be in the penalty box as much as we were [that night] against a team like Cornell or Colgate."

The time has come and the moment the players have been waiting for since March has arrived.

"I think it's a very exciting way to start the season," McCarthy said. "I think that it's really exciting in terms of how Cornell has given us the boot from the playoffs in the past two years. And that's a great rink to go up and play in too.

No matter what the results, some way or another it will definitely be a night to remember. The Cornell fans will make sure of that.