ORONO – It is still a work in progress. And the architect likes what he sees so far.

When Rick Filighera was named to coach the first varsity women’s ice hockey team at Maine in 1997, he knew it would take time to bring the program along to the point it was a competitive Division I entity.

Scholarships were added on a gradual basis and the program now has the 18 scholarships allowed under NCAA guidelines.

Maine posted 15 wins in 2000-01, a school-record 16 the following season, and turned in a respectable 12-15-4 record a year ago with 10 of the losses being by two goals or less.

Last season was the first year for the Hockey East women’s league and Maine went 5-8-2 in league play before losing to New Hampshire 2-0 in the semifinals.

“I’m extremely satisfied with the program,” said the 35-year-old Filighera. “We’ve become increasingly more competitive in our games. People tend to look at wins and losses. But our games have been so much better, especially the last two years. Now we’ve got to show the maturity you need to win those 2-1 or 5-4 games.”

Two of the seniors, right wing Karen Droog and goalie Lara Smart, have noticed a dramatic change over their four years.

“The program has progressed tremendously since my freshman year,” said Droog. “When I came in as a freshman, there was a lot of talent here. But when you look at the freshmen we have in this year, it doesn’t even compare.”

“And I imagine from now on, the recruiting classes are going to keep getting stronger,” Droog added.

“When I came in as a freshman, I had never weight-trained before. But these freshmen seem to know what they’re doing. It’s a big difference,” said Smart.

The Bears have 12 freshmen on the roster and six of them played in the team’s first four games. Another played in three and one played in two.

“One thing that has changed for us, especially this year, is we have hockey players, not people who play hockey,” said Filighera. “These kids have a passion for the game.”

Smart said that means Filighera “no longer has to focus on the basics. He can go more in-depth. He can teach the systems and more stuff like that and we’re all ready to go with it. Before, he had to teach passing and stuff like that.”

The large and talented freshman class has given Filighera the deepest team he has ever had and that depth leads to constructive competition for positions.

“Some of these kids have never had to sit [out a game] or play on the fourth line before,” said Filighera. “They’re learning they can still be a productive member of the team.”

He added that even if they’re not playing regularly, “they’re pushing everybody to make sure they perform at the best of their abilities.”

“We’ve definitely seen a huge transformation,” said Droog.

“Everybody is more dedicated. We lost the people who were slackers,” said Smart.

Filighera said the growth of women’s hockey has resulted in a much better player pool from which to draw.

“We’re starting to get people calling us. It’s not so much a player’s market now. Kids need to look for schools,” said Filighera.

He said the growth of the player pool means “other than the top five or six schools in the country, teams 6-through-32 are pretty even. Anybody can beat anyone else. The top teams have a little more talent.”

Smart and Droog said Filighera has improved as a coach.

“He has evolved a lot since our freshman year, definitely for the better,” said Droog. “He has adapted to us quite well.”

Filighera is in total agreement.

“I’m a better coach now. If you stop learning from your players and assistants or you lose your passion to learn, you might as well get out of it. The only thing I care about is making sure my players get better through my passion and wanting to learn about the game,” said Filighera.

Droog and Smart said their four years at Maine have been special and they would love to go out with a bang this season.

“These have been the best four years of my life,” said Droog. “It’s going to be tough to leave.”

“It’s nice to see how much I’ve improved,” said Smart.

“It would be nice to get a Hockey East championship under our belt this year,” said Droog.

“It would also be nice to be ranked in the top 15 so we could go out saying we were nationally ranked and one of the best teams in the country,” said Smart.

With the $3.5 million renovation to Alfond Arena in the offing, including a new locker room for the women, things are looking up.

2003-04 UMaine

Women’s Hockey Schedule

October

19 ? Wisconsin 5, Maine 4

20 ? Wisconsin 6, Maine 1

25 ? Maine 2, Colgate 2 (OT)

26 ? Maine 2, Colgate 1

November

1 ? Yale 1, Maine 0

2 ? Maine 2, Yale 2 (OT)

7 ? at Brown, 7 p.m.

8 ? at Princeton, 4 p.m.

14 ? at Boston College, 7 p.m.

15 ? at Boston College, 3 p.m.

22 ? Providence, 1 p.m.

23 ? Providence, 1 p.m.

29 ? at Harvard, 2 p.m.

December

6 ? Northeastern, 1 p.m.

7 ? Northeastern, 1 p.m.

12 ? at Union, 7 p.m.

13 ? at Union, 3 p.m.

January

16 ? at New Hampshire, 7 p.m.

17 ? at New Hampshire, 3 p.m.

23 ? Connecticut, 4 p.m.

24 ? Connecticut, noon

February

7 ? at Providence, 2 p.m.

8 ? at Providence, 2 p.m.

13 ? New Hampshire, 4 p.m.

14 ? New Hampshire, noon

20 ? at Northeastern, 7 p.m.

21 ? at Northeastern, 3 p.m.

27 ? Boston College, 4 p.m.

28 ? Boston College, noon

March

6 ? at Connecticut, 2 p.m.

7 ? at Connecticut, 2 p.m.