Last night may have been the first time neither the Harvard or Dartmouth women’s hockey teams paid too much attention to the scoreboard in a matchup between the two rivals.

But that’s only because winning is not the goal of a preseason hockey scrimmage. Even so, both teams highly anticipated the exhibition game that featured No. 2 Dartmouth versus. No. 3 Harvard.

With sophomore Ali Boe and freshmen Emily Vitt vying to start between the pipes for Harvard, all eyes were on the goaltenders, who split time in net. Boe started the first period and played half of the second.

“Boe certainly had more action,” said Harvard coach Katey Stone. “We didn’t get it going very early. We were back on our heels and they were all over us. Boe kept us in there; I thought she did a great job.”

“Boe played awesome. That’s just a testament to how intense that rivalry is going to be between goalies,” said co-captain Angela Ruggiero. “I definitely see it in Ali Boe, at least, she’s being pushed, she’s being challenged for her spot right now.”

Vitt relieved her halfway through the second period and finished the game.

Each saw a different style of play from both teams.

“Vitt didn’t see as many shots but I thought she did real well,” Stone said. “She made some key saves when she needed to. There was very different action when each goalie was in there, but I thought they did a good job.”

Each goalie gave up two goals in equal amounts of time, though Boe saw more shots.

The first scrimmage of the year did not sway Stone either way.

“It’s really going to take some time,” she said. “Those things sort of shape themselves out, or maybe not. Maybe they’ll go head-to-head all year.”

Stone also pointed out that Boe and Vitt offer different styles of play, reflecting their physiques.

“Ali plays the angles so well. She just sets up to the puck really well,” Stone said. “Vitt’s really quick up and down and coming across the crease. She has a bit more size, but you take so much away when you line up to the puck.”

Though an area of high interest, goaltending was not the sole focus. Having practiced for only a week on the ice, the Crimson showed kinks in its offensive arsenal.

“There were moments of great pleasure and surprise,” Stone said. “There were moments of disappointment, too. I told the kids ‘you handled a very adverse situation pretty well.’ Mixing kids around, not playing with the same combination for more than 10 minutes at a time, that’s a tough thing to do.”