This story was written by David Bailey who is the beat writer for
women's hockey team this winter.  The Black Bears take the ice tommorow
in Alfond at 1 p.m. in their varsity debut against Sacred Heart.
 
After nine years of trial and tribulation as a club squad, the
University of Maine women's hockey team begins its maiden voyage as a
varsity unit Saturday against Sacred Heart at Alfond Arena.
Even though they have practiced for only two weeks, the Black Bears
have already meshed as a collective group.
Needless to say, head coach Rick Filighera has been impressed.
"From day one to where we are now is a drastic improvement," he said.
"It seems like things are starting to click in. I've seen great
improvement and I think we'll be more than ready to play Saturday."
Filighera's players have noticed the trend as well.
"I'm feeling a lot more confident in our teamwork," junior goaltender
Amy Oliver said. "We're starting to build bonds, become buddies. It
definitely helps our play."
Here's a position-by-position look at how the Black Bears stack up:
Making do
There is only one player returning from last year's club team who
scored more than five goals. As a result, defense will be the order of
the day for Filighera.
"We're really going to play a lot of containment," Filighera said.
"We're going to have to be opportunistic with our scoring chances.
We're really going to have to shut down the other teams' top lines,
we're going to have to really, really concentrate on playing good
defensive hockey in our zone."
Filighera hopes to have an answer for every situation, which at times
could make him seem more like MacGyver than a hockey coach.
"It's kind of mind-blowing, some of the stuff that he comes up with,"
Oliver said. "He's got some different offensive plays and defensive
plays for when we're up against competition that is way over our heads.
We're learning new stuff every day."
Offensively speaking
The bulk of Maine's scoring duties will fall upon sophomore forward
Alison Lorenz, who tallied 22 goals and 20 assists for 42 points last
season.
"[She's] probably going to be our top point getter or at least the girl
that we're going to rely on to get a lot of our points," Filighera said.
While Lorenz is up to the challenge, she's content to steer clear of
the limelight.
"I don't know about that, but it doesn't really matter who does the
scoring as long as we win games," she said.
Lorenz teams up with Alicia Gilmore and Jamie Schofield on a line that
Filighera will look to for some scoring punch.
"They're going to be the go-to line offensively," he said. "Gilmore and
Lorenz and Schofield have a lot of desire, they're working hard. I
think that group plays desperate hockey, they battle for pucks."
Filighera will also employ a defensive-oriented line with center Alana
Ahearn flanked by wingers Michelle Weaton and Michelle Young.
"[They] will be a very good defensive line," Filighera said. "They're
all going to work hard at keeping the puck out of the net."
Ahearn tallied five goals and eight assists last season and was
recipient of the team's Coach's Award.
The Blueliners
Since the Black Bears are short on defensemen, it will be up to Allison
Haley and Christina Hedges to keep the puck out of the Maine zone.
"Haley and Hedges are going to be the two players that are going to be
our top defensive players," Filighera said.
With only three to four full-time defensemen on the roster, Filighera
won't be afraid to plug in his offensive players if the situation
arises.
"We're going to have to adjust," he said. "Weaton will be dropping back
and playing some D. You might see Lorenz play some D at some point
during the year. Schofield has played some D."
Between the Pipes
It will be up to Amy Oliver to serve as the resident brick wall for
Maine's last line of defense. The Orono native earned the starting job
with a strong performance in training camp.
"[She's] solid back there," Filighera said.
Oliver just hopes to go out and do her job once the puck is dropped.
"I want to work on my intensity and I want to develop a premonition of
where the puck's going to so I can get there," Oliver said.
Freshman Sarah Dolan will serve as Oliver's backup.
The crystal ball
Filighera is employing a wait-and-see attitude before he makes any
predictions about his team.
"It's hard to say," he said. "We're not going to be barn-burners. We're
going to do the best job we can with the talent that we do have.
"If we can make the playoffs, that would be just tremendous for this
school and for this program. But if we don't, I think that we could
still be successful in the win-loss column.
"But we also could be successful in the fact that we're creating
something here for many years to come."
Bear Tracks:
 Enjoy Saturday's game while you can. The Bears won't play another home
game for two months.
 Ahearn and Hedges have been selected as the team captains.
Does Filighera have any opening-day jitters?
"I have opening-day excitement, but I don't believe in jitters," he
said. "I think the players will have that excitement. If you're not
exited, then you shouldn't be playing this game anyway."
 Eleven players on the inaugural roster hail from Vacationland
 WMEB (91.9 FM) will provide sole coverage of the team's home games
this season including Saturday's opener.