The Harvard women’s soccer team, now ranked 23rd in the nation, won’t have the easiest road back to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.

Tonight in Storrs, Conn. the Crimson (10-5, 4-3 Ivy) will meet familiar regional rival Hartford (15-5) in the first round of NCAAs. The winner will likely face No. 13 UConn (16-5), which has one of the easiest first-round draws of the tournament in Northeast Conference champion Sacred Heart (10-9).

The Harvard-Hartford game will be played under the lights, immediately following the UConn-Sacred Heart game, which is set for 4:30 p.m.

Last year when Harvard advanced to the Sweet 16, Hartford was its second round opponent.

Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton said he was not intimidated by this year’s tournament draw.

“If you’re going to be a national champion, you got to play the best,” he said. “We may be playing the best earlier than we would have chosen, but that’s okay. You got to beat them anyway, so I’m confident.”

The tougher draw is due largely to the tournament’s recent expansion from 48 to 64 teams, which necessitates that weaker automatic qualifiers play the higher seeds in the first round, rather than the best teams that fall short of 16 first-round byes.

Harvard—once ranked as high as No. 11 in the nation—could have avoided a tough draw by becoming one of those higher-seeded teams, but a 2-4 record to close the season crushed those hopes. Nevertheless, the Crimson hopes to make the most of its current situation.

The NCAA, however, hasn’t made the situation any easier. The national office had said for months that all first round and second round games would be played on Friday and Sunday, but the games at UConn were pushed back to tonight and Saturday because the regular schedule conflicted with the Big East men’s soccer tournament.

Hartford was the regular season and tournament runner-up of the American East, a conference that is rated lower than the Ivy League, which, with four of eight teams making NCAAs, is one of the nation’s best. The Crimson beat both Hartford and American East champion Boston University during the regular season.

Harvard will be playing its ninth game in the last six years against Hartford tonight, making them the Crimson’s most common opponent during that stretch. It will be their third meeting in the last four NCAA tournaments. Hartford beat Hartford 3-0 in the 1998 second round, and Harvard beat Hartford 3-0 in the second round in 2000.

“I guess [Harvard vs. Hartford] is becoming a tradition,” Wheaton said. “They’re a great team. We’re looking forward to playing them.”

Harvard’s 1-0 victory over Hartford on Oct. 31 was unusual by all accounts. The Crimson’s lone goal was scored in the 32nd minute when the Hawk defenders stopped playing because they believed Harvard was offsides. The referees then proceeded to call the majority of fouls on the Crimson in the subsequent minutes, leaving Harvard on the defensive for the rest of the game.

“[Tonight] it’ll be a different game,” said junior netminderCheryl Gunther, who was forced to make 11 saves during that regular-season meeting. “Hartford will be charged up, because they felt like they were cheated last time, so we’ll have to step it up.”

The Crimson had few scoring opportunities during that game other than the one opportunistic goal. The team has struggled to find the net during its 2-4 slump, scoring just five goals in its last six games after scoring 23 in its first nine games.