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August 5, 2003
WOMEN'S ICE HOCKEY ANNOUNCES 2003-04 SCHEDULE


ORONO, Maine - A matchup with national runner-up Harvard and a
season-opening series with Wisconsin will be among the highlights of
the 2003-04 University of Maine women's ice hockey schedule.

The Badgers will visit Alfond Arena on Sunday, Oct. 19, and Monday,
Oct. 20, to open UMaine's regular season. The home stand continues the
following weekend, Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 25-26, when the Black Bears
host Colgate.

The Black Bears begin their second season in Hockey East with a
two-game set at Boston College on November 14-15, before making their
home conference debut on Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 22-23, against
Providence College.

In addition to the Friars, Northeastern, Connecticut, New Hampshire,
and Boston College will all visit Orono for two-game Hockey East
series.

Maine will square off against Harvard on Saturday, Nov. 29, at the
Bright Hockey Center in Boston. The Crimson were national runners-up in
2002-03, after falling to Minnesota-Duluth in the championship game of
the NCAA Women's Frozen Four.

The Black Bears will also face non-conference foes Yale, Brown,
Princeton, and Union College on the road during 2003-04.

"I'm excited about our slate for this season," said Head Coach Rick
Filighera. "Twelve of the 35 games on our schedule are against teams
ranked among the top eight in the nation at the end of last season. The
highlight, of course, will be our matchup with Harvard at the end of
November. That will be a good test of where we are heading into the
heart of our conference schedule."

The Black Bears return 13 letterwinners off last season's squad that
went 12-15-4 overall, including leading scorers Megan Aarts (12 G, 14
A, 26 pts.) and Karen Droog (15 G, 7 A, 22 pts.) and goalie Lara Smart
(41 GA, 2.24 GAA, .921 save pct.).

Maine posted a 5-8-2 record in the inaugural season of the Hockey East
Women's League, good enough for third place, and qualified for its
league tournament for the second consecutive season.