Peter has a small mole on his left cheek. Chris is the more meticulous of the two. Maybe that goes with being one minute older.

Peter and Chris Ferraro are freshman identical twins who also happen to be two of the reasons the University of Maine’s hockey team is 13-0-1.

Right wing Chris Ferraro has 11 goals and 15 assists in 14 games and is the second leading goal scorer in Hockey East with 10 goals in 9 HE games. Center Peter has 5 goals and 15 assists in 11 games and 2 and 12 in nine HE games.

They are the third and fourth of five children raised by loving parents who have transported them all over North America so their twins can pursue their aspirations.

Their aspirations include winning a national championship at Maine, playing for the U.S. Olympic team, and skating for the New York Rangers in the NHL.

Peter Ferraro was the Rangers’ first-round choice in last June’s draft, and his brother was the Rangers’ fourth-round pick.

They were very heavily recruited by colleges.

They are workaholics, a trait obtained from their parents (Peter and Diane) and older brothers (Mike and Joe).

Their father and mother started a sporting-goods business 23 years ago, and it has blossomed into a profitable three-store enterprise (Plaza Sporting Goods) on Long Island.

The elder Peter Ferraro played some semipro football. “My husband never played hockey, but he found it fascinating,” said Mrs. Ferraro. “We used to follow the (minor league) Long Island Ducks, and we’ve always been Ranger and Islander fans.” The parents get to virtually every game.

The twins were raised in Sound Beach, Long Island. They began skating at 6 years old and playing hockey at “eight or nine,” according to young Peter.

The boys played other sports, but hockey was their first love. Unfortunately, Long Island is not a hockey hotbed, so the twins wound up playing for youth teams in Rye, N.Y., a two-hour drive from Sound Beach, and for the Philadelphia Junior Flyers, a 4 1/2 hour ride.

“Once we started playing hockey, Dad saw our potential, and he wanted to get us the best competition he could find,” said Peter.

“We couldn’t practice with our teams because they were so far away.” continued Peter. “So Dad built us an outdoor arena in the backyard. And we had a pond to skate on. We used to skate with our older brothers. They taught us how to play.”

The twins also took their hockey a step further. “Because we didn’t get practice time, Dad always taught us that it was important to stay in shape, so he used to wake us up in the morning and have us jog and do 100 push-ups and sit-ups before school,” said Peter. “We got used to it and realized it was important, so we began doing it on our own.”

The twins wound up going to Tabor Academy (Mass.) for two years, and then they played for Dubuque and Waterloo (Iowa) in the U.S. Junior Hockey League for two more years.

The parents either bought or rented a home near the twins, and they have rented a condo in Orono this year.

“Our whole family has really helped us out,” said Peter. “They’ve made a lot of sacrifices for us.”

The twins were the leading scorers for the bronze-medal winning U.S. team in the World Junior Championships last winter – Peter was chosen to the all-tourney team – and they will play in the World Junior Championships again this month.

They are extremely close-knit, but that’s not to say they haven’t had their differences. “We used to kill each other,” said Chris. “We were so competitive.”

Peter is a little more outgoing, and Chris is the more organized of the two, but he says that “Peter is getting better.”

Neither one drinks, smokes or does drugs. They are very polite.

On the ice, Peter is the more physical of the two. Chris is more of a finesse player. “Chris is quicker than I am,” said Peter.

They have been happy with the team’s success and said they are learning a lot, but both said they can play better.

“They’re too hard on themselves,” said Maine Coach Shawn Walsh. “Like most good athletes, they’re perfectionists.

“They’re two of the highest scoring freshmen in the country,” added Walsh. “They are coachable, they listen, and they work hard. They can improve. They’re fabulous in open ice, but they need to get better in traffic. That will come. They’re every bit as good as I thought they would be.”