Captain Carrie Schroyer (19) looks to lead the Crimson to victory over ECAC rival Dartmouth tonight at the Bright Hockey Center.

The ECAC title is not on the line. Neither team is trying to maintain an undefeated record. And the game will probably not set attendance records.

But after several years of high-profile match ups against perennial rival Dartmouth, including one game in 2003 that was labeled “The Best Show in Town” by the Boston Globe, when the no. 9 Harvard women’s ice hockey team takes the ice tonight against the Big Green at the Bright Hockey Center, they will be fighting for more than just momentum.

“It’s been a great rivalry,” said Harvard coach Katey Stone before her team’s practice yesterday afternoon. “Just a lot of energy, very high-tempo games. There’s a lot of pride on the line.”

Senior captain Carrie Schroyer said that it would be difficult to treat tonight’s game like any other.

“You feel it, just because of those past experiences,” Schroyer said

“It’s a huge regular season game for us—a big ECAC matchup,” Stone said. “It’s too early to tell whether there’s a lot riding on it, but in my opinion, and I’m sure in [Dartmouth coach Mark] Hudak’s opinion as well, there’s a lot riding on it.”

The Crimson (7-5-2, 4-3-2 ECAC) come into the tonight’s contest having dropped their last game 3-0 to no. 3 New Hampshire, breaking a four-game winning streak that included 6-0 and 7-0 drubbings of Union.

A loss would leave Harvard with a .500 record both overall and in the ECAC, and the team would be looking at an uphill struggle when they resume their season Jan. 7 against Colgate. Even with half the season remaining—the Crimson will play 14 games after the break—the team wants to stay at the top of their game and capture some momentum as they go into their recess.

“We’re going to go after each of these games one at a time,” Schroyer said. “This is the last game of our 2005 season, so we’re going to bring that momentum into this last game.”

Both Stone and Schroyer said they expected tonight’s game to be a physical one, but Stone stressed that the rivalry has never gotten personal.

“You’re just trying to play your best game against a tough competitor,” Stone said.

Dartmouth (5-5-0, 2-4-0) has proven to be just that. In the past three years, Harvard posted a 3-3 record against the Big Green—a mark that stands in stark contrast to the rest of those seasons.

The Crimson has advanced to the championship game of the NCAA tournament in each of the past three campaigns.

But Harvard does come into tonight’s game having beaten Dartmouth in their past two meetings.

In their first contest last year, Nicole Corriero ’05 scored five goals to lead the Crimson to a 6-3 upset win in Hanover.

And in their last meeting, senior Lindsay Weaver notched the game-winning goal, giving Harvard a 4-3 win before 1,611 fans at Bright.

While Dartmouth’s scoring offense has dropped to 24th in the nation this year and the Big Green has fallen out of the USCHO national rankings—though they lead in the “others receiving votes” category—Schroyer said that her squad is still focused on getting a win.

“We’re always going into every game trying to get as pumped up as we can,” Schroyer said. “Whether we’re playing Minnesota-Duluth, who’s ranked first in the country, or Dartmouth, who’s in the bottom third of the ECAC.”

And despite all the history, Stone maintained, the Crimson isn’t feeling any added pressure.

“There’s always a lot at stake when you put on your jersey,” Stone said. “Our approach will be to go out and win our next game.”

Face-off against the Big Green will be at 7 p.m. tonight.