It might be tempting to assume that the Harvard women's soccer team will win its fourth straight Ivy championship by default. After all, it reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament last year.

However, being so nonchalant this year would be foolish. Because of a strong Dartmouth team, the Ivy League title is far from a lock.

Dartmouth (9-1-1, 3-0 Ivy) is ranked No. 9 in the country by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Led by the strong play of goaltender Kristin Luckenbill, the Big Green has yet to give up a goal at home this year. Luckenbill has a goal against average of 0.45 and has not given up a goal in the last 614 minutes.

Dartmouth has a tough match this weekend when it plays Yale at homecoming and another when it meets Harvard on October 31 in a battle of the two current Ivy League unbeatens.

Although Dartmouth has gotten off to a fast start, Harvard (6-2-1, 4-0 Ivy) has kept pace in the league standings. The Crimson has gone 5-0-1 since its last loss, with all of its Ivy wins coming in that stretch.

Harvard has not been blowing opponents away--it beat Columbia, Yale, Penn, and Cornell each by one goal--but it has consistently been doing enough to win.

Harvard is hosting the Harvard Invitational this weekend, which includes George Mason, Northeastern, and Cornell. The Crimson will play Northeastern and George Mason, whom Harvard beat 2-1 in the second round of last year's NCAAs. The Patriots are trying to recover from a 5-1 loss to James Madison but have an All-American goalkeeper in Jaime Pagliarulo.

Trailing Harvard and Dartmouth closely in the Ivy League is Princeton (8-2, 3-1 Ivy). Princeton has a strong, balanced offensive attack led by sophomores Aimee Reyes and Lori Volker. After returning 24 of 26 letter winners from last year's strong team, Princeton seems to be a contender for the Ivy League title. However, it will have to play almost perfect soccer to have any chance at beating Dartmouth, which beat the Tigers 4-0 at Princeton earlier this year. Princeton travels to Virginia this weekend.

Columbia (6-1-3, 1-1-1 Ivy) has been a contender this year because of the strong play of junior goalie Ali Ahern. Ahern is ranked fourth in the NCAA in goals against average and has only allowed four goals in 844 minutes for the season. Columbia travels to Philadelphia this Saturday to battle against the Quakers.

Yale (6-3, 1-2 Ivy League), which was expected to be one of the main contenders to Harvard's throne before the season started, faces a must-win at Dartmouth this weekend.

Yale won its first four games but has faltered since, including a 2-1 loss in an Ivy showdown with Harvard.

Penn (8-2-1, 0-2-1 Ivy) is a strong team despite its poor Ivy League record. After thrashing Delaware 9-0 on Tuesday, the Penn offense finally appears on track. The Quakers have been led this year by goalie Anne Kluetmeier. She has eight shut outs for the year and had a 723 minute scoreless streak that was snapped earlier this year by Harvard freshman Colleen Moore.

Although Penn has yet to score in Ivy League play this year, it averages 3.6 goals per game (thanks in large part to the showing against Delaware) and was off to the best start in school history earlier this season. The Quakers have a relatively easy schedule for the rest of the season and could come on strong at the end of the year.

Cornell (2-6-1, 0-3-1 Ivy) has less hope because it has struggled all season. Cornell has scored only seven goals, six of which came in the same game. The Big Red has a chance to get a win against 2-9-1 Northeastern this weekend at the Harvard Invitational Tournament, but 9-4 George Mason is probably too strong.

Brown (5-4-1, 0-3-1) shares the Ivy League cellar with the Big Red. The Bears have played well out of conference, however, and hope to continue the trend when they travel to Fairfield this weekend.

Halfway through the Ivy season, it looks like the Halloween match-up between Harvard and Dartmouth could decide who wins the league title and gets the ensuing automatic berth in the NCAA playoffs. Princeton is still lurking, however, and the Tigers still have a chance if they can surprise Harvard the week before Crimson's showdown with the Big Green. IVY LEAGUE WOMEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS

IVY  Overall

Team  W  L  T  W  L  T Harvard  4  0  0  6  2  1 Dartmouth  3  0  0  9  1  1 Princeton  3  1  0  8  2  0 Columbia  1  1  1  6  1  3 Yale  1  2  0  6  3  0 Penn  0  2  1  8  2  1 Brown  0  3  1  5  4  1 Cornell  0  3  1  2  6  1