The University of Maine men’s hockey team has concluded the first third of its Hockey East schedule with a 6-1-1 mark and will now play 10 of its final 16 league games at the Alfond Arena. Maine is 16-2-2 overall.

Maine has a 24-game unbeaten streak at Alfond (20-0-4).

Maine is 13-1-2 in its last 16 Hockey East regular-season home games dating back to a 3-1 loss to UMass-Lowell on Feb. 17, 2001.

Including league quarterfinal sweeps of Northeastern and Boston College, Maine is 17-1-2 in its last 20 home games against Hockey East opponents.

“We feel it’s a privilege to play here in front of this crowd,” said Maine senior left winger and captain Chris Heisten. “The way the community has taken us in makes us want to put on a good show and play hard every night.”

Maine coach Tim Whitehead said that going 6-1-1 with six of eight league games being on the road is a credit to his players.

“They competed very hard, played very smart, and found ways to win,” said Whitehead. “We’re in good position for the second half of the season. Playing at home is a big plus.”

Maine is averaging nearly 5,000 fans per home game.

However, Whitehead and Heisten said just because the team has 10 of 16 at home, they don’t anticipate any easy wins.

“There are a lot of hungry teams out there and they’ll be looking for every point they can get. They’ll be chomping at the bit,” said Whitehead.

And one team that is starving for wins comes to Orono this weekend when the Northeastern University Huskies invade Alfond for a two-game set.

Northeastern is 1-8-1 in the league and only three points ahead of last-place UMass-Lowell, which is 0-8.

Heisten pointed out that “a lot of teams like playing up here because there aren’t many crowds like ours and it’s exciting. I love playing at New Hampshire because they always have great crowds.”

Maine had its 16-game unbeaten streak snapped at Providence 4-2 last Friday night and Whitehead said there are lessons to be learned from it.

“You can’t play well for just half a game, not in this league,” said Whitehead, whose Bears rebounded with a 5-2 win over UMass-Lowell on Saturday night.

The Bears have regained the services of right winger Greg Moore and goalie Jimmy Howard, both freshmen, from the United States team that finished fourth in the World Junior Championships in Nova Scotia.

But leading goal scorer Colin Shields (13 goals) will miss his second straight weekend with a cracked rib.

“It will be nice to get an extra boost from having them back at practice on Wednesday just like it will be when we get Colin back,” said Whitehead.

“And it will give us two more freshmen to tease in the locker room,” said Heisten.

Whitehead said the team will work on improving its faceoffs this week after a subpar weekend and will also address the special teams.

Maine has the best power play in the league at 26.4 percent success rate overall and 25.7 percent in league play and it is best overall on the penalty kill (88.4 percent) and second-best in league play (86.8 percent).

Maine gave up shorthanded goals in each game over the weekend. Maine went 3-for-10 on the power play while Providence and Lowell went a combined 2-for-6.

UMaine women playing roles

As the UMaine women’s basketball team prepares for Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. America East opener against longtime rival New Hampshire at Alfond Arena, Black Bears coach Sharon Versyp is beginning to witness what she hopes is the meshing of her ballclub.

The Bears have won five of their last seven, including Saturday’s 78-72 win over Buffalo. The junior nucleus of Heather Ernest of Temple, Melissa Heon, and Julie Veilleux of Augusta are demonstrating the benefits of their extensive experience.

“I think our kids are really understanding exactly where they fit,” Versyp said. “Once they know their role and really understand it, then they really start playing.”

Most of the key contributors know Versyp’s system and their responsibilities therein. All believe that should make the Bears a threat to challenge for the conference title.

“Everybody’s doing what they need to do. We all know our roles,” Ernest said.

UMaine has been rebounding effectively while playing solid all-around defense. The Bears also boast the highest-scoring offense in America East at 70.9 points per game.

“You can’t just shut down one person and Maine’s done; that’s not the way it is,” said Ernest, who has shouldered the weight of opposing defenses’ double-teaming her the last two seasons. “We have people who can score.”

The Bears are shooting 42 percent from the field, but are hoping to improve on their .697 free-throw percentage during league play.