Sophomore Ali Boe will mind the net for the Crimson in tonight’s showdown against Dartmouth.

No matchup evokes emotion from members of the Harvard women’s hockey team quite like a game against Dartmouth. But then, few rivalries in any collegiate sport stack up to the storied battles between the Crimson (22-2-1, 12-2-0 ECAC) and the Big Green (18-5-2, 10-3-1)—especially when they can boast national rankings of No. 1 and No. 3, respectively.

Co-captains Lauren McAuliffe and Angela Ruggiero hope for a decisive victory in what might very well be their final outing against Dartmouth.

“Considering it could be the last time I play Dartmouth in my career and how many times they’ve beaten us in the past, I really really want to beat them bad,” Ruggiero said.

The game is also setting up to be a deciding factor in the tight race for a spot in the Frozen Four. Dartmouth led No. 4 St. Lawrence and No. 5 Wisconsin by only one and two points, respectively, in the latest poll.

“They’ve lost four of their last five games. If we can beat them, we could be the final nail in their coffin as they make a bid for the Frozen Four,” Ruggiero said. “It would be nice to walk away with a decisive victory against them.”

McAuliffe put it more bluntly. “Now, not winning is not even an option for us.”

But the archrivalry and the emotion surrounding tonight’s contest is by no means limited to the captains.

“We want to beat ’em really bad, but more than anything we want to get the ‘W,’” said sophomore Jennifer Raimondi, who scored the lone goal in Harvard’s 2-1 loss to Dartmouth Jan. 11.

“That first game, there were a lot of nerves on the ice. It was our first big game in Ivy competition,” said sophomore winger Julie Chu. “Now, we have a little something to prove.”

Harvard followed this with a disappointing 6-3 loss to Princeton. Since then, the Crimson have gone on a nine-game winning tear, including a sweep of No. 4 St. Lawrence, who dethroned Dartmouth from the No. 1 spot with back-to-back wins of their own Valentine’s Day weekend.

“We’ve come a long way since [the first loss to Dartmouth],” McAuliffe said. “We’re feeling pretty good about where we are right now and how far we’ve come.”

This past week, Harvard concentrated on improving its forecheck in the defensive zone, as well as overall special teams in anticipation of Dartmouth and beyond.

“We don’t like people coming into our house and beating us. We’re going come into there’s and hopefully give them some payback,” Raimondi said.

Ever since a lucky bounce of the puck trickled by sophomore Ali Boe for the second and deciding goal in Dartmouth’s victory over the Crimson, Boe has been hungry.

“We’ll definitely be trying to get a little revenge because we outplayed them last time,” Boe said.