AUBURN — The long-standing ice hockey rivalry between Lewiston and St. Dom’s traces its history to the beginnings of the sport in the Twin Cities.

Between them, the schools have won 44 state championships dating back to 1929, and the Devils’ and Saints’ friendly feud has long been considered the marquee hockey rivalry in Maine, and one of the most recognized in New England.

Now, the rest of the country will get a chance to see what it’s all about.

The 2010 Great American Rivalry Series, presented by iHigh.com, will be in town for the second regular-season meeting between Lewiston and St. Dom’s on Wednesday, Feb. 3.

“It’s a great way to recognize what we’ve all known all along,” St. Dom’s athletic director Lee Hixon said. “This is a unique rivalry, and we get to showcase that.”

“I think it’s a great thing,” Lewiston AD Jason Fuller said. “They do a good job with their football stuff online, and it’s a new venture for them doing hockey. For us to be chosen as one of the first games, it’s a pretty big honor. I think it recognizes the history of this game. In that regard, it’s great. It’s nice to have our names out there as one of the great hockey rivalries in the country.”

Lewiston’s run to the Class A championship in 2002 was the last for either school. The Saints earned back-to-back titles in 1999 and 2000. Both squads have played in state title games since, with the Saints losing to Edward Little in 2004, and the Devils falling to Cheverus in 2006, and to Biddeford in 2007 and 2008.

This season, with a shift in the conferences, games between Lewiston and St. Dom’s have added meaning: Only one of the teams can advance to a state title game now that both play in Eastern Class A.

“It adds to it a lot,” St. Dom’s coach Steve Ouellette said. “If one of us makes it to the state final, it’s likely we’ll have had to go through the other team to get there. It’s great for this area and it makes for a good story line.”

On the hockey side of things, the coaches are trying to maintain a sense of normalcy as the game approaches. For the Blue Devils, the game could be particularly difficult given that they won the first meeting.

“Regardless of what else is going on that day, we still have to play a hockey game,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said. “We know that they’re going to be coming at us hard, they always do, and they might have that added incentive because we beat them the last time we played.”

That game was the culmination of a special quadruple-header that included a junior varsity game, a girls’ game and an alumni game. Lewiston earned a 4-2 victory in the Dec. 26 tilt.

“The first thing is that we have to show up and play a solid hockey game,” Ouellette said. “We obviously want to finish the year strong. If you look at who we’ve played, none of our losses have been blowouts, and four of them have been by one or two goals, with some empty-netters.”

Ouellette said that even though there is going to be a little bit of extra hype associated with the game, that may be good for his players.

“We should be hyped up for the game to begin with,” Ouellette said. “If this makes the players a bit more intense, that’s not a bad thing.”

In addition to presenting the game, iHigh.com will award a trophy to the game’s winner, and will hand out a pair of $500 schoalrships, one to the senior on each team with the highest academic standing.

The U.S. Air Force will be at St. Dom’s as part of the process, as well, allowing students to compete for prizes while completing the Air Force Challenge.

At the game, iHigh.com will also record all or parts of the game with video, audio and/or still photographs, and document the event on its Web site, www.greatamericanrivalry.com.

“We’re excited about the chance to showcase what this rivalry is all about to a lot of people outside of our area,” Hixon said. “It’s a great opportunity for the athletes, and for the community, which gets to take part in all of this along with them.”

Tickets for the game, which begins at 7:20 p.m., are available for advance purchase at both schools’ athletic offices.