ORONO – The aftermath of Tuesday’s tragic terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., continue to impact the world of college sports in Maine and across the country.

The University of Maine announced Wednesday that Saturday’s football game at North Dakota State, Friday and Sunday games involving the women’s soccer team at the Wisconsin Badger Classic, and Friday’s home field hockey game against Ball State (Ind.) will not be played.

UMaine President Peter Hoff, vice president for student affairs Richard Chapman and athletics director Sue Tyler made the decision Wednesday afternoon not to have Black Bear football and soccer teams travel by air to their respective games.

“The safer thing is to keep our kids home and look at ourselves in the larger context of what has happened to our country,” Tyler said. “There’s a lot of upheaval for our kids.”

UMaine field hockey and women’s soccer are looking for alternative games this weekend, either at UMaine or within busing distance of Orono. All other UMaine athletic events scheduled through Sunday will be played as planned, as they do not involve air travel.

Most other Maine colleges played Wednesday soccer and volleyball matches as scheduled. On a national level, the Southeastern Conference announced it would play its weekend football games.

The Atlantic 10, of which UMaine is a member for football, opted to let its schools make their own decisions. Three games were postponed, while four others will be played as scheduled.

Tyler said the negatives aspects of making the trips – including the potential safety risks, the psychological effects on the student-athletes, the possibility Saturday for a national day of mourning, the uncertainty about whether airports would be open and whether UMaine could get its charter flight – far outweighed any potential positives.

“If there is the least bit of a risk factor for the well-being of our teams, we certainly do not want to do that,” said Tyler, who also wanted to inform UMaine’s opponents about the decision as soon as possible.

UMaine football coach Jack Cosgrove, whose team was scheduled to play Division II national power North Dakota State on Saturday, said the decision was the right one.

“I fully support the decision that was made by the president and Dr. Tyler,” said Cosgrove, who immediately halted Wednesday’s practice upon hearing the decision.

“It’s the right thing to do, because even though it seems like a big sacrifice that we’re making, it pales in comparison to the sacrifices being made by people across the country,” he said.

Cosgrove, who had never ended a practice in the middle of the workout, said team members initially weren’t happy about the decision.

“Our players were upset, but I tried to give them a little perspective about the thing,” he said. “There’s also an educational component to this that falls on the shoulders of us as coaches. I explained to them there are other concerns at this time more important than our own.”

The trip to North Dakota at the 15,000-seat Fargo Dome was a much-anticipated event for UMaine, which received financial guarantees from N.D. State that meant the trip wouldn’t cost the Bears a cent.