This time, one of the also-rans also has to win.

Though No. 10 Harvard and Northeastern have long been relegated to second-class participation in the Beanpot—neither has been crowned “Best in Boston” since the Crimson last earned the title in 1993—a win in tonight’s 5 p.m. semifinal at the FleetCenter will provide one of the two oft-overlooked sides with a chance to put an end to No. 1 Boston College and No. 14 Boston University’s decade-long duopoly.

On paper, the every-third-year matchup would appear to favor Harvard (14-5-2, 11-4-1 ECAC), which enters the tournament riding a five-game winning streak punctuated by a final-minute victory over streaking league rival Dartmouth. The Huskies (10-13-4, 6-8-3 Hockey East), on the other hand, limp into this evening’s faceoff winners of just four of their last 15 contests. During that stretch, Northeastern has been defeated by BC, Vermont, BU, and Maine—all of whom the Crimson knocked off earlier this season.

That general mediocrity, however, has been interrupted by short flashes of brilliance against preeminent competition. In addition to a season-opening win against Michigan, the Huskies have twice upset Colgate—to whom Harvard has twice lost—and tied North Dakota.

“That’s the thing,” senior Rob Flynn said. “They come to play in big games.”

Needless to say, the Crimson hasn’t booked its ticket for the Valentine’s Day final just yet.

“Any time you have a game with this much emotion involved, I think you get everybody’s best performance,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “It really narrows the gap between X’s and O’s, between any kind of strategy. Even skill to a certain point is brought closer together because emotions are so high.”

The likely outcome of that convergence is a contest several were quick to label “sloppy” or something similar.

Lacking the Crimson’s playmaking prowess, Northeastern will likely position one of its forwards in a defensive posture, sacrificing its own attack in order to keep Harvard’s under control.

“They’re not out there trying to create a lot of offense,” junior defenseman Tom Walsh said. “They’re trying to capitalize on our mistakes.”

One trio above all is most likely to make the Crimson pay should it make any errors. They—Jason Guerriero, Mike Morris, and Brian Swiniarski—have, after all, scored 35 goals this year, compared to their teammates’ 38.

“You just need to know that they’re out there, and pay a little bit more close attention to them,” Walsh said. “Our guys can handle it. We’re not worried about them. We just want to be aware of them and, when they’re on the ice, maybe just play a little more defensively and be a little more careful with the puck.”

Guerriero’s shift has been particularly potent on the power play, striking 16 times with a man advantage. The Crimson has been assigned the second fewest penalty minutes per game in the nation this season—only Northeastern has fewer—but neutralizing the line will hinge, in part, upon whether Harvard can avoid succumbing to the contest’s predicted ugliness and taking unnecessary penalties.

“It’s going to be a low-scoring, hard-fought, ugly hockey game,” Donato said. “And we’ve got to be prepared to play that way and to succeed that way.”

OF NOTE

Junior Dan Murphy, sidelined since Jan. 8 with a shoulder injury, skated with first-line duo Tom Cavanagh and Brendan Bernakevitch for a portion of yesterday’s practice. Whether he participates in tonight’s contest will be a game-time decision...Harvard last advanced to the Beanpot championship game in 1998, on the strength of a 5-4 overtime win over BC. The Crimson lost a week later to BU, 2-1, also in overtime...Northeastern defeated Harvard in the consolation final of last year’s Beanpot, 3-1, on Feb. 9.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.