“It was just another chance to give back to a world that has given us all so much,” said Matthew Fields, a freshman environmental management and policy major. “To help those who need help is part of our overall existence on this planet.”

The weekend activity was planned by Alternative Spring Break, a student service organization affiliated with Black Bear Volunteers. The group has worked with Habitat for Humanity in the past for extended spring break trips, but this was the first time ASB partnered with the Habitat for Humanity affiliate in Androscoggin County for one of the four yearly service weekends.

The ASB service weekends are designed to give members and nonmembers the chance to explore various issues facing communities statewide. The trips are organized around core ASB values that include education, orientation, training, diversity, direct service and reflection, in an alcohol- and drug-free weekend, according to the Black Bear Volunteers’ Web site.

The response and turnout from interested students made this particular trip unique. It was one of the largest service weekend trips organized. The students quickly bonded as a group with a common cause and the weekend was a tremendous success, according to Michael Mlodzianoski, service-weekend coordinator and second-year graduate student.

“Not only was the trip fun, but I did something productive and helped out a family in need,” said Corie Gagne, a freshman elementary education major. “I liked everything about the trip – from the games and bonding the night before and meeting people, to the actual work on the house, as well as learning more about Habitat for Humanity.”

The volunteer work involved the continuation of construction on a four-bedroom ranch that Habitat is building for an Auburn family. The house project was started in late September and will hopefully be finished before Jan. 1, 2006.

Students worked with a Habitat site supervisor who gave them tutorials on a technique of roof ventilation that Gagne described as “internal roofing,” as well as on how to hang vinyl siding.

“Building a house is no small feat,” said Katy Szapa, a freshman biology major who hung vinyl siding. “The experienced professionals at the site were more than willing to teach us the skills we needed to do various things.”

The parents of ASB member Vanessa Morin were housed Friday night in Cumberland. They woke early Saturday morning to begin work at the site in Auburn. In addition to their personal desire to do a good job, the brisk November temperatures prodded students to work hard to keep warm.

“I knew this was going to be a good trip, but I didn’t know just how great it was going to turn out,” said Mlodzianoski. “Together, we put in about 100 hours of work on Saturday. We probably hastened the completion of the house by several days.”

Site supervisor Tom Wrobel was impressed with the students’ work as well.

“I’m really glad you all came down,” said Wrobel. “I hope you people realize what you accomplished today. I’m tickled pink.”

Patrick and Sharon Moreau and their children Adam, 13, Josh, 11, Brittany, 9, and Justin, 4, will be the proud owners of the Habitat home. The Moreaus were chosen out of 28 applicants. This is the 13th house built by the Androscoggin Habitat affiliate since its founding in 1987.

The Moreaus were living in a Lewiston basement apartment in a drug- and violence-infested neighborhood that had no place for their children to play, according to Patrick. Their apartment was condemned this year because of structural issues, and the family is now living in a temporary apartment in Auburn. Patrick said his wife is looking forward to having land that she can now use to plant gardens.

“It means the world to me and my family,” said Sharon. “It means absolutely everything.”

Sharon is a native of Androscoggin County, born and raised in the Auburn-Lewiston area.

Patrick owns his own roofing and siding business in addition to working nights as a bouncer at the Midnight Blues Club in Auburn.

The house lot was provided by the city of Auburn. For all Habitat houses, the materials for the house are donated or sold to Habitat at a reduced price. Volunteers provide labor, and the homeowners also put in hundreds of hours of labors.

The Moreaus will buy the house at no-profit cost with a no-interest interest loan. The family’s mortgage will then be recycled to help finance the next Habitat home.

Habitat for Humanity is an international nonprofit, nondenominational Christian housing ministry that was established in 1976 by Linda and Millard Fuller. Their goal is to eliminate housing poverty and homelessness.

Another service weekend with Habitat for Humanity will most likely be organized before the end of the school year, according to Mlodzianoski. He said continued student interest should not be an issue.

“I’m not the only one who wouldn’t think twice about doing this again,” said Jennie Isgro, a sophomore international affairs major. “I still find it amazing that one day of work can profoundly change six lives.”

ASB will also be working with Habitat for Humanity during spring break, according to Kristen Sutherland, a sophomore social work major.

“It is soul food,” said Devon Connolly, a senior business major. “It makes you feel good to know that you helped out some family in need. I know it sounds tacky, but it’s true. You get back more than you give.”

These were the most important concepts taught Tuesday night during the first-ever coeducational seminar in self-defense at the University of Maine. The defense techniques combined practical martial arts as opposed to ones more concerned with the art form.

Ryan Barnes, a sophomore electrical engineering major, and Mark Marcini, a junior forestry major, both have backgrounds in martial arts, and expressed interest in providing a coed self-defense seminar to Gustavo Burkett, assistant director of campus activities, and Deborah Mitchell, campus police patrol officer and rape aggression defense instructor. Mitchell and Burkett thought the seminar sounded promising and gave the students the go-ahead. The instructors combined their experiences and knowledge in To-Shin Do, Karate, Tae Kwon Do and Krav Maga for demonstrations in techniques and defense scenarios.

Currently, there are no programs on campus aimed at providing men with defense education. Women are still the most common victims, but assaults involving men are a serious concern as well. Most assaults on men on campus tend to occur outside when they are most vulnerable while walking alone, drugged or intoxicated. On the other hand, assaults on women happen most often in dorm rooms by someone they know, according to Mitchell.

Participants were given a brief introduction to beginner punches, kicks and working with a training partner in cooperative combat. The seminar was meant to be a teaser: an introduction and an experiment to gauge co-ed interest in self defense.

Being aware of your surroundings is the biggest component of the program. Many potentially serious situations can be avoided if they are detected early and correct precautions are taken.

Reacting is another key concept. Trust your instincts and your body, and try not to think too much before you act. Seven out of 10 times you’ll do the right thing, said Barnes.

Confidence-building is also very important, according to Marcini. He hopes people will walk away with more of it after self-defense education. People who look weak, nervous and unaware are easy and obvious targets for attackers. People who show confidence appear stronger and are more likely to be avoided. Walk with your head up, Marcini said.

“The most effective thing I learned was probably defense techniques to use when in a headlock or an attack from behind,” said Polaris Garfield, junior English major.

The beginning of the seminar was an informal presentation on the topic of assault and self-defense. Carey Nason, representing the Safe Campus Project, and Mitchell both spoke on the issue of safety and awareness as key to avoid dangers.

In 2004, 25 simple assault cases, one aggravated assault and nine forcible sex offenses, were reported on campus, according to the public safety Web site.

Mitchell highlighted the safety resources available to students on campus. The blue call boxes scattered around campus are there for students if they are lost, their car breaks down or feel they are in danger. Walking companions are also available, and students should not be afraid to utilize the service, which is not connected with the police. Mitchell instructs a five-week-long class in female self-defense through RAD, a national institute. The class runs a few times every semester, and Mitchell can be e-mail via FirstClass to sign up for the class.

“It’s our body, and no one has the right to touch it without our permission,” said Mitchell. “Everyone has the right to defend themselves.”

The second half of the seminar taught hands-on involvement and practiced fighting off an attacker.

“I came here because I was interested in learning some more about martial arts,” said Sean Hoffman-Murphy, a sophomore journalism major. “Plus, because of incidents of fights at places like the Bear Brew, the stuff learned here would be useful.”

Barnes and Marcini hope to continue with more coed seminars in the future if interest is apparent and forthcoming.

The objective should be “one laptop per child, not one per seventh-grader,” Papert, a mathematician, author and computer science pioneer, said during his lecture Wednesday at the Donald P. Corbett Business Building. Papert was a chief proponent behind former Maine Gov. Angus King’s school laptop initiative. He hopes to apply the model to the rest of the world, even to more impoverished countries where education is inferior to some of the more economically advantaged nations.

Papert said the primary deterrent to providing more laptops is the computer industry’s inherent desire to maximize profits. Costly maintenance, repair, and rapid obsolescence comes not because of technological incompetence, but because production of an inferior product serves the interests of Microsoft and others, he said.

Papert noticed a wasteful allocation of funds in which 40 percent of money goes to advertising, distribution, marketing and needlessly expensive software that is already free and readily available on the Internet.

This inefficiency, Papert said, also extended to the internal productivity of a particular system. He pointed out that scientists got the Atari gaming system, created decades ago, to work with a small space of 16 kilobytes because of careful thinking and using inadequate resources to create an adequate system.

“Why shouldn’t a computer go [for] 10-20 years?” he said. “There’s no technological explanation. The computer industry has cast a spell over the consumer. They’ve succeeded in making us believe a laptop is an expensive [product] that doesn’t last long.”

Papert’s project isn’t focused on how many laptops to buy but how to make them last longer. He outlined several approaches to increase their longevity: power consumption, replacing hard drives with flash memory and exploring alternative display screen options.

Papert told about impoverished Cambodian villagers who had received laptops and found the glow from the display to be a superior light source to what they were using before. He saw this as an indication that display screens use excessive energy. A cheaper laptop could be produced using a dual-mode display with one mode generating its own light at low resolution and the other using subpixels of color to produce reflected light.

Papert also saw a benefit in having computers used as an e-book. All this entailed was attaching rotating cylinders beneath the display so it could swing 180 degrees, making it possible to hold it like a book.

These innovations, Papert felt, were not being encouraged in educational institutions for young people. He observed that most scientific studies revolve around biology, physics, chemistry and other fields where most of the basic information dates back to the 19th century. The focus, he said, should instead be on modern technological advances like computer science, where children could learn about the wonders of scientific technologies that create complex products like cell phones and Game Boys.

During a question-and-answer session following the lecture, Papert sought to address misinformation about why Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ OSX program offer was rejected by his project. Papert explained that he wanted commitment to an open source, meaning the user has the freedom to put whatever system they want on their computer. He said OSX wouldn’t run on the machine because of its obscene use of memory and claimed the Chinese would’ve turned the offer down regardless because of a global transfer to a different program called Linux.

Another questioner saw flaws in producing a laptop meant to last 10 years or more, where it would quickly become obsolete. Papert said providing more people with laptops was an ethical issue, analogous to medical research in which access to knowledge could be placed in the same category. The countries of the world with little money, he said, should be provided with some basic assistance at an affordable price, rather than nothing at all. While the United States can afford expensive machines, the poor in other countries would gladly accept a system that would become obsolete in 10 years.

Papert hopes “The Hundred Dollar Laptop” project, with the assistance of partners, Google, AMD, Red Hat, News Corp., Bright Star and MIT, can move the laptop into mass production in 2006.

Diversity talk

A talk on diversity in the field of science will be held at 3 p.m. in Room 114 of Bennett Hall. Melissa Dancy of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a UMaine Visiting Libra Diversity Professor will speak. For information, contact Leisa Preble at 581-1016.

Tuesday, Nov. 22

Web design talk

“Accessibility 101 and Intro to AccVerify: A universal Web design introductory workshop,” will be held from 10-11 a.m. in the FFA Room of Memorial Union. For information, contact Howard Mosher at 581-3731.

Wednesday, Nov. 23

Break

Thanksgiving break officially begins at 8 a.m. Classes resume 8 a.m. Monday, Nov. 28.

Submitting information

Submissions for The Maine Campus Community Calendar are free, and can be sent on FirstClass to Ernest Scheyder or dropped off in The Maine Campus office located in the basement of Memorial Union. Please include all the important information about your event. Deadlines for submissions are 9 a.m. Sunday for Monday publication and 9 a.m. Wednesday for Thursday publication. First priority will be given to events that directly affect university students.

“That’s the best team I’ve seen. The best team won the game today,” said UMaine head coach Jack Cosgrove.

Sophomore quarterback and heralded Walter Payton front-runner Ricky Santos threw for 354 yards and four touchdowns, but it was his legs that broke the Black Hole defense, as he rushed for 138 yards and three more scores, both career highs.

“They were playing a lot of man coverage, and with guys running down the field there’s no one to cover the quarterback, so it was 1, 2, 3 and if no one’s open take off,” said Santos. “I was just trying to do my part.”

The teams combined for 1,100 yards of offense and over 100 points in an exciting affair that set series records in those departments.

“It was exactly what I expected,” said UNH head coach Sean McDonnell. “I told them last night that what Maine had done on offense these last weeks made them a better football team and a challenge for us.”

“We missed some tackles,” Cosgrove admitted. “But their multiplicity on offense put us in spots with missed assignments. You add missed tackles to that and they have a lot of points.”

The Black Bears and Wildcats traded scores throughout the first half, with 42 points scored in the second quarter alone. UNH jumped out to a 10-0 lead that UMaine answered with a Montell Owens touchdown. All three of Santos’ rushing scores came in the second, but the Black Bears got one from Owens and two of McMahans four touchdown catches to keep pace.

Heading into the locker room trailing 31-28, the Black Bears felt good about their chances of upsetting the Wildcats and bringing the musket home.

“Every year it turns into a shootout with this team,” McMahan said. “We didn’t change much at halftime; we thought we would keep moving the ball against them.”

But Santos, his favorite target David Ball, and UNH’s defense had other plans. Playing for the Atlantic-10 championship and home field advantage in the I-AA playoffs, the Wildcats would rise to the occasion in the third quarter.

Santos hooked up with Ball three times in the quarter, breaking their own UNH records for touchdowns in a season and giving the Wildcats a commanding 52-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“We thought if we came back out and hit them in the mouth, they might not respond, and we did just that,” said Ball.

“They responded like the No. 1 team in the country should,” Cosgrove said. “They took charge of the game in the third quarter.”

UNH’s third quarter scoring matched their second quarter output, but unlike earlier in the game UMaine’s offense couldn’t keep pace or give its defense a rest, gaining just one first down in the quarter, exactly what the Wildcats defense wanted.

“We met as a defense before the second half and said, ‘we have the best offense in the country, so let’s get them the ball and let them score,’” said Wildcats linebacker E.J. DeWitt.

Santos threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to give UNH a demoralizing 59-28 advantage, but the Black Bears figured the last quarter of the season was no time to quit.

Whitcomb found McMahan for his third touchdown of the day with 5:44 to play and the Black Hole forced a three-and-out on the next possession. The Black Bears marched 93 yards in just under two minutes, capped by an 8-yard Whitcomb touchdown caught by senior Ryan Waller. UMaine’s two-point conversion failed and they trailed 59-41.

“There’s a lot of fight in that locker room,” Cosgrove said.

Indeed there was, as UMaine recovered an onsides kick to get the ball back and Whitcomb led another scoring drive, this time finding McMahan for his school record fourth touchdown catch of the game. The score came with just seven seconds left in the game and accounted for the 59-47 final score.

“Heck this game could’ve gone until midnight,” Cosgrove mused. “How many teams go two for three on onsides kicks? And we almost had the third one.”

UMaine’s hard fought comeback was representative of their season, as they bounced back from a 2-5 start to win three straight and even things at 5-5 before Saturday’s loss gave them their second straight 5-6 season record.

“The one thing we always said was never quit,” said McMahan. “Hopefully, we showed the younger guys what can happen when you don’t give up and they can keep it going next year.”

“It sums up our season,” added Whitcomb, who finished the day with 363 yards and five touchdowns on 36-60 passing. “We fought to the end.”

Junior receiver Arel Gordon, who led the team with 94 rushing yards and 14 catches for 85 yards, agreed that this year’s senior class set an example that could lead to big things in UMaine’s future.

“It sends us into our off season program in a good way,” Gordon said. “Coach said it reminds him of a 5-6 finish several years ago that led to A-10 championships in 2000 and 2001.”

Owens also shined in his final game as a Black Bear, notching 85 yards and two touchdowns rushing and 89 yards receiving on seven catches.

“I’ve been blessed to be around a group that brought focus and intensity back to our program,” said Cosgrove. “They’ve been a pleasure to be around. I like the young men we have coming back and hopefully we can keep it going into spring ball and next season.”

All 11 UMaine players recorded points on the night.

“This is a great feeling,” said McInerney. “I hope they’re all like this.”

Whittier scored a career-high 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting and pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds, recording her first ever double-double.

“No one deserves it more than she does,” said McInerney. “She’s been extremely coachable and she’s getting better day after day.”

Underwood also had a career-high in points, knocking down six 3-pointers en route to 22 points. Her six three’s tied the UMaine single-game record, a mark she also reached last season against Stony Brook.

The Black Bears jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead in the game’s opening three minutes behind two Underwood baskets. UMaine shot 41 percent and led 34-13 at the end of the first half. The Bear’s defense also turned in a solid performance, as it limited Rider to just 13 percent shooting from the field. UMaine held to Broncs without a field goal during a 10-minute stretch and forced 12 turnovers.

“We didn’t have a scouting report on them, but we went in knowing that our defense was going to have to be our cornerstone for getting the job done,” said McInerney.

“Once we got into that scoring rut we were in trouble,” said Rider’s second-year head coach Tori Harrison.

Underwood opened the second half with three straight long-range jumpers as the Black Bears went on a 12-3 run in the first two minutes.

Senior forward Abby Schrader scored seven points and had six rebounds while junior Bracey Barker contributed four points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Red-shirted freshman Ameshia Bryant turned in a solid performance in her first collegiate game with two points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Three freshmen, Brittany Bowen, Brittany Boser and Colleen Kilmurray, scored and recorded significant minutes.

“It’s great when you have the opportunity to play the whole team. We’ve been preaching from the beginning it’s team first,” said McInerney. “They all came in and contributed.”

Junior Monica Welborn and sophomore Janele Henderson each had a team-high 10 points for Rider University, who was without leading rebounder, junior Kara Borel who is still recovering from a concussion.

“We just didn’t compete,” said Harrison. “When you don’t do the little things, this is what you get.”

The Black Bears will return to action next Friday when they play host to the Dead River Company Classic at Alfond Arena. Maine will face Kennesaw State on Friday at 7:00 p.m., and then take on Dartmouth Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

It was a tough opening schedule to begin with, but several injuries and tremendous youth didn’t help matters. UMaine is without its best player and captain, senior Kevin Reed, who has a foot injury. Highly touted freshmen Junior Bernal and Philippe Tchekane Bofia also did not play due to undisclosed injuries.

“We showed great character despite being down three key players,” said UMaine head coach Ted Woodward. “This is a team to be judged in March as opposed to December. Three guys started their first college game this weekend and three other guys played for the first time ever. We’ll continue to grow and improve as we get experience and get healthy.”

The Black Bears opened up their 2005-06 campaign Friday night with an 89-55 drubbing at the hands of the tournament’s host, William and Mary.

“We’re certainly disappointed with our play tonight,” Woodward said. “We were missing on all cylinders and, in turn, William and Mary played great. We’re a far better team than we showed.”

The Tribe jumped out to a 7-0 lead but a three-pointer by senior Ernest Turner and freshman Christian Cavanaugh drew UMaine within one. The Tribe responded with an 11-2 run to take a commanding 10 point lead.

The Black Bears would come as close as six points, but a 12-2 Tribe scoring run to close out the first half all but ended the Black Bears’ comeback hopes as they trailed 43-25 at the break.

William and Mary put their feet on UMaine’s throats as junior Corey Coefield scored 7 of his 19 points in the first five minutes of the half and the Tribe had another 12-2 run to take an insurmountable 68-34 lead.

Turner would score seven unanswered points and 12 in the game’s final eight minutes, but the Black Bears couldn’t dent the Tribe’s lead. Turner led all scorers with 20 points.

In his first career start, junior Olli Ahvenniemi played well, recording 11 points six rebounds and three blocks, but was hampered by foul trouble and fouled out of the game with 9:52 left to play. Cavanaugh also had an impressive debut, collecting 13 points, six rebounds, two steals and a block. Cavanaugh and Ahvenniemi led UMaine to eight blocked shots, two shy of the school record.

As a result, the Black Bears faced High Point in the tournament’s consolation game on Saturday and were narrowly defeated 70-67, with senior Freddy Petkus missing a potentially game-tying three-pointer as time expired.

The Black Bears were perfect from the free throw line, going 18-18 to tie the school record of 13-13 from 1999. Junior Chris Bruff hit four foul shots down the stretch to give UMaine the chance at the game-tying trey.

“Although we don’t talk about moral victories, I’m very pleased with our comeback,” Woodward said. “We played like we’re accustomed to and unfortunately had a very cold shooting night on good shots.”

Starting the game was again a problem for UMaine, as High Point took a 7-0 lead early in the first half. The Black Bears answered with an impressive run that gave them their first lead at 23-21, but the Panthers responded and went into halftime leading 36-32.

High Point had an 11-0 run to start the second half, but this time UMaine was able to battle back. Their comeback bid was fueled by junior Jon Sheets, who had 10 of his team leading 22 points during a 16-5 UMaine run that closed the gap. Turner also had six points in that span and finished the night with 21.

The teams would trade baskets the rest of the way and High Point’s Arizona Reid, who had a game-high 24 points, hit his two free throws with 17.9 seconds remaining to keep the Panthers advantage at three.

The Black Bears will look for their first win of the season Tuesday night in their home opener at Alfond Arena against UMFK. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

There were no stars of the game. No sold-out arena. No television audience. It was an exhibition game in the middle of November.

It wasn’t supposed to be front page material.

But then again, this wasn’t your typical exhibition scenario.

No, the University of Maine men’s ice hockey team needed this one. And at 16:44 into the first period Saturday night at Alfond Arena it showed.

With one quick shot to the net, junior Michel Leveille directed the team’s attention back to hockey and away from the strife that had taken over the team. The goal went on to tie the decision and spark a 7-2 victory over the U.S. under-18 team.

“It was a good ending to a rough week,” said freshman defenseman Bryan Plaszcz.

Early Monday morning, UMaine saw forwards Mike Hamilton and Wes Clark arrested for assault and aggravated criminal mischief. Only three days later, four more players were charged for criminal trespassing. Those players, Brent Shepheard, Travis Wight, Bret Tyler and Rob Bellamy, as well as Hamilton and Clark, were all suspended for Saturday’s decision against the U.S. under-18 squad. The suspensions had left the Black Bears reeling.

“It’s been a long week for everyone,” said junior Mike Lundin. “Our whole team has definitely been effected by the situation, so to come out there and focus on something else and get that out of your mind for awhile was nice.”

Leveille’s goal, which came with the Black Bears’ down 1-0, kicked off an offensive explosion.

“It was just a power play goal; a give-and-go with Jankus,” said Leveille. “He gave me a nice one timer pass and I got a good rip on it.”

From the start of the second period to the end, UMaine out shot Team USA 38-14. The offensive barge in the final two periods helped to erase a shaky opening ten minutes.

“We kind of took it easy the first couple minutes,” said Leveille. “Obviously they are a nice young team and they outplayed us.”

“I think we didn’t come out with the focus we should’ve; the focus we have for most games,” said Lundin.

Leveille connected the sluggish start to the exhibition match arriving in the middle of the season.

“It’s definitely weird to play an exhibition game in the middle of the season like that,” said Leveille. “We’ve been talking all week about how they are going to be good but it’s still in the back of our heads that ‘oh it’s going to be a exhibition game and be pretty easy, so I think that’s why we started slowly.”

At 5:14 of the second period, Plaszcz put the Black Bears up for good when he beat netminder Joe Palmer from the hash marks.

“Somehow Leveille got it and made a nice flat pass right into my wheel house and I put it on net,” said Plaszcz.

Travis Ramsey and Leveille registered assists on the play. Plaszcz, who has only played in three games this year, shined in the exhibition match.

“One of the big things about an exhibition game is you have an opportunity for some of those guys to play and I think they seized the opportunity and played well.”

UMaine’s eventual game-winner came at 9:04 of the second period.

On the ensuing play, Keenan Hopson redirected a point shot by Josh Soares on the power play.

The Black Bears had only one more blemish in the game.

Late in the second at 19:48, Luke Popko tallied his second goal of the season.

“I really admired how the U.S team played,” said Whitehead. “They are a very talented young group, extremely well-coached and disciplined and I admire how they had the courage to make plays in the game.”

Whitehead felt the goal could have been a momentum change.

“I think that was definitely a momentum swinger, but we were fine,” said Whitehead. “I thought our guys handled that well.”

Refusing to let his brother steal all the limelight, John Hopson recorded his only goal at 1:54 of the third period. Jon Jankus and Leveille garnered assists on the power play goal.

The Black Bears continued to roll on with Mike Lundin scoring at 2:39 of the third period.

Lundin discussed the goal after the game.

“I was just kind of waiting there in the slot on the weak side and Vince Laise just made a great pass and find me there in the slot,” said Lundin. “The guy came out and I was just trying to not get the shot blocked. I don’t think the goalie really ever saw it.”

UMaine smashed in two more from Moore and Soares at 11:10 and 12:39, respectively. With the score at 7-2 and the Black Bears milking a five point cushion, the fans and players got a much awaited apperance by third string netminder Ryan Shelly.

The second-year goalie from Gray, Maine, made his first collegiate appearance in the game. Along the way he hauled in three saves.

“It was real nice actually,” said Leveille about getting Shelly into the decision. “I love the fact that the crowd got into it. He doesn’t get a whole lot of ice time and its good to see him out there and having fun with us. He puts up so much time for us in practices and he never gets to play on the weekends, so it’s really fun to see him out there and we were all happy for him.”

Shelly replaced Matt Lundin, who recorded 19 saves in 53 minutes.

“It was great,” said Whitehead of Shelly. “I was really proud of Ryan. He is one of the best young men I have ever coached.”

Michael Carman opened the scoring for the U.S.-under 18 team and the contest at 16:01.

The team looked unfazed by the changes on the ice with Derek Damon filling the role left open by the suspended Mike Hamilton on the top line of Leveille and Greg Moore.

Hamilton and Clark are suspended indefinitely from the team for violating rules stated in the student athlete conduct code. Shepheard is out for three more games, while the rest can return next Sunday against Vermont.

“Even though they weren’t playing, they were focused on hockey,” said Lundin. “I am sure it was nice to get their minds off of it.”

First, thanks to the NFL schedule makers for giving the New England Patriots an easy stretch run that’ll help them get healthy and make a playoff push. After yesterday’s win over New Orelans, the Pats are 6-4 and almost all their remaining six games could be considered easy, much less winnable. There were some doubts, but now we know the Patriots will be around to defend their title when it matters most: January.

And a sarcastic “thanks a lot” to whoever runs the FOX net that UMaine subscribed to. For whatever reason, Patriots fans were treated to the New York Football Giants instead of their home team this weekend. I know we get the Jets and Giants regularly because of UMaine’s proximity to the Big Apple, but instead of the home town team? Maine’s still part of New England, isn’t it?

It’s also important to thank the seniors of the University of Maine volleyball and women’s soccer teams. Perhaps not the most popular sports on campus, the girls in both games have brought a winning attitude to their programs and found tremendous success.

Women’s soccer advanced to three straight conference championship games and volleyball’s seniors were the first in school history to play in two straight America East tournaments. Along the way, the ladies on both teams were classy and dignified, and put UMaine on the map in both sports. Though they don’t have a championship, they have a lot to be proud of and have laid the foundation for years of success. Well done, ladies.

Another big thanks to the senior class of the UMaine football team for helping give football fans on campus a reason to cheer for them. It would’ve been easy for that group to fold its tent after a 2-5 start, but they had too much pride for that, and resurrected their season to finish 5-6, giving New Hampshire all it could handle Saturday afternoon. They too, leave behind a legacy of focus, intensity, and hard work that should pay off for their program in the years to come.

Thanks to the hockey Gods for the NHL’s comeback. The league set attendance records in October despite last season’s lock-out and everything we wanted from pro hockey has occurred. Scoring is up, fights are down and fans are rediscovering a forgotten pleasure at an amazing pace. Now if only we could teach the Bruins how to hold a lead…

Drew Bledsoe’s got to take some time to thank somebody, namely Bill Parcells for bringing him in to quarterback the Dallas Cowboys. Drew has the team at 7-3 and atop the NFC East, on pace to set a career record for passer rating. It’s always nice to see a fallen hero like Bledsoe prove a lot of people dead wrong.

What would Thanksgiving be without football anyways? Time must be taken every year to thank the Sports Gods for forever linking the gridiron with Turkey Day. From high school to the NFL, from wake-up call to that turkey-induced nap, football consumes the holiday, as it should.

This year is Husson’s first year with a swim program. Their girls team consists of 11 swimmers, though they only brought nine to the meet, and do not have a diving or mens team. UMaine carries around 40 girls, with the co-ed at 66 swimmers total on the team, including divers. Because of the small numbers, the meet did not have a final score, and the schedule of events was altered.

The UMaine girls started the meet off with a bang as they dominated the first event, the 500-yard freestyle. Junior Sarah Warren won the event with a time of 5:36, and her teammates took all of the following places.

“There were some good swims, and it was a lot of fun,” said freshman swimmer Allison Wintle.

Though the meet was low key, UMaine dominated all of the events except for the 50-yard Freestyle and the 200-yard IM. Other stellar performances by UMaine included sophomore Libby Caldwell’s win in the 50-yard backstroke, senior Danielle Parrott’s win in the 100-yard backstroke and junior Tal Shpaizer’s win in the 50-yard butterfly.

UMaine may not see Husson again this season.

“Normally we wouldn’t swim against them, but it was nice for them to get some experience, and nice for us to have an extra meet,” said Wintle.

Husson is coached by former UMaine All-American swimmer, Athlete of the Year and two time Female Swimmer of the Year Krystle Fogler. They do have a regular season schedule, and the team hopes to become a success at the college.

“There is a lot of talent on our team, and the season should turn out really well,” said Wintle about her team. “Not everyone on the team can fit on a bus when we travel to away meets, so Friday was a nice way to give some of the girls that do not travel an extra opportunity to swim, and just bring the team together.”

The UMaine girls continue to thrive this season with a 4-1 record,with their only loss coming to Yale. They saw Holy Cross today, with results unavailable at press time. They will compete again on Friday, Dec. 2 at the Rhode Island Invitational in Kingston, RI.