For years, the waiting list for season tickets to University of Maine hockey games has been extensive.

But newly-named athletic director Patrick Nero has cut into that list by making 300 more available. That will bring the number to 3,200 for 2003-04.

They have been on sale throughout this week and Nero said 170 were sold Monday, the first day of the sale.

Nero explained that there had been 600 preferred seats set aside for donors, corporate contracts and members of the athletic staff.

“But if the donors didn’t buy tickets, we’d end up holding them and they wouldn’t get sold,” explained Nero. “So what we’ve done is take 300 seats allotted to the athletic department and we’re selling them as season tickets.”

Athletic department members will still be able to get tickets from the remaining 300 if donors don’t buy them.

“What we’re trying to do is maximize our inventory,” explained Nero. “We want to sell as many tickets ahead of time as we can.”

Season tickets at Maine cost $294 apiece, $310 if you include next season’s game in Portland against the University of Vermont (Jan. 4).

Maine will play 18 games at Alfond Arena in 2003-2004.

The 2,900 season ticket holders will receive their options for renewal soon and they will have to respond by July 31.

The seats that aren’t renewed will go on sale the next day, according to Nero.

To go with the 3,200 season tickets, there will again be 1,500 seats allotted to the students.

Opposing teams receive 150 tickets per game and the rest are sold on a single-game basis.

Nero said Alfond Arena can hold as many as 6,000, including standing room.

The official capacity is listed as 5,641.

Tickets can be obtained by calling 581-BEAR or on-line at Goblackbears.com

Kariya, Jentzer All-Americans

Martin Kariya of the University of Maine men’s ice hockey team was named to the 2002-03 Verizon Academic All-America men’s at-large university division first team.

UMaine swimmer Jake Jentzer of Bangor was named to the second team.

The honors were announced Tuesday by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Kariya, a senior forward, had a 3.787 grade-point average in mathematics. He led the Black Bears in scoring this year with 14 goals and 36 assists in 39 games. He was named to the Hockey East first team, the New England Hockey Writers’ second team, and won the Hockey East sportsmanship award. Kariya is a two-time winner of the Dean Smith Award, which is presented annually to UMaine’s top scholar-athlete.

Jentzer, also a senior, posted a 4.0 GPA with a double major in biochemistry and psychology. At the America East championship meet this year he finished second in the 100-yard butterfly, seventh in the 100 freestyle, and was a member of Maine’s fourth-place 200 and 800 free relay teams. Jentzer is a UMaine scholar-athlete award winner and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

The at-large teams represent student-athletes throughout the country in the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling.

Braves announce soccer recruits

The Husson College soccer team is bringing in a number of former Eastern Maine high school standouts for the fall 2003 season, the school announced Tuesday.

At the goalkeeper position the Braves of Bangor added George Stevens of Blue Hill’s James Friend and Shead of Eastport’s Darrin Constant. Rookie defenders include Taylor Bagley of Washburn, Piscataquis of Guilford’s Ben Edgerly, Van Buren’s Myles Ouellette, and Matt Mountain, a 2002 graduate of Dexter.

New midfielders include Nicholas Aucoin of Old Town, Kevin Mattieson of Canton (Mass.) High School, Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook’s Corey Edkins, Bangor Christian’s Eben Doten, Adam Pollock of Calais, and Ben Stearns of Piscataquis.

Husson will welcome forwards Tyler Hewes of Van Buren, Ben Sobey of Bangor Christian, Lincoln Academy of Newcastle’s Joshua Farrar, and T.J. Nevue of Ware, Mass., who was the Western Massachusetts Player of the Year. Keith Simpson, a Piscataquis graduate, is also joining the team from UMass-Dartmouth.

“This group of players combined with the returning players has created a lot of excitement for the fall within the men’s soccer program,” coach Scott Warman said. “Preseason, training sessions, and matches should all be of similar intensity for the players.”