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Subject: Hockey team plays in first ever playoff
Date:    Thu, 07 Mar 2002 12:09:09 -0500


Hockey team plays in first ever playoff
By: Matthew Hritz


03/07/02
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This is it. This is the time of the year when hockey is played at another level
of intensity. This is the time of year when players play in hopes of going deep
into the playoffs and achieving the ultimate prize: a championship.
The University of Maine women's ice hockey team (16-14-4 overall, 8-10-3 in ECAC
East play) enters the playoffs with a school record for most wins in a season.
UMaine has gone 8-2-2 in its last 14 games, including a 4-3 overtime victory
against No. 2 Northeastern on Feb. 8, and begins its first-ever postseason quest
Saturday in Rhode Island against fourth-seed Providence.
"It's satisfying that we did accomplish winning more games [this season] than we
did last year, but we could have been better," head coach Rick Filighera said.
"We had so many of our games that were one-goal losses to top teams that could have went either way. [Those losses] could have given us 20 wins, or more."
The Black Bears finished fifth in the ECAC Eastern Division and will travel to
play the Friars (17-13-4 overall, 11-7-3 in ECAC East play) in a single-game
ECAC quarterfinal. Providence is a team UMaine has historically had trouble
against, going 0-7-2 all-time against the Friars. UMaine lost two of three games
to Providence this year.
"We need to maintain our intensity as a team throughout the entire game. If we
play hard then we should come away with the win," said sophomore forward Karen
Droog.
"We are very even teams," Filighera said. "The team that shows up ready to play
and executes will win. That's all it's going to take. It's not going to mean one
team is better than the other. That's why we're are fourth and fifth seeds."
Coach Filighera only asks his team show up and play hard against the Friars. If
his team does that, then the Black Bears may be able to capitalize on Providence's 1-0 loss to Boston College last Sunday and earn their first playoff
win in team history.
"If we can get to them early they may be lacking a little bit in confidence,
because they didn't win that game; whereas we are coming off a win, but you
throw that all away for the playoffs."



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Story Source: Maine Campus