ORONO – Playing hockey wasn’t really an option growing up in the Desmet household in Strathmore, Alberta. It was a way of life.

So Leonard and Sandra Desmet’s only daughter and the second of their four children gladly laced up her first set of hockey skates at age 3.

“And I’ve been playing hockey ever since. It’s the same with all my brothers,” said the senior center for the University of Maine women’s hockey team with a grin. “We even played hockey in the kitchen. My mother was getting mad at us every five minutes because we were breaking everything.

“So we actually built a new house and had a room designed downstairs that was just for hockey. Our lives revolve around hockey.”

Her older brother, Taggart, plays for Michigan Tech. Younger brother Braden plays in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, and the youngest, Keenan, plays midget hockey.

Desmet, who played on boys teams until she was 16, has compiled an impressive career at Maine, including second team All-Hockey East honors last season when she was second on the team in scoring with 12 goals and 11 assists in 32 games.

She is off to a good start this year with three goals and two assists in seven games.

That gives her 32 goals and 22 assists in 105 career games.

“You notice her every shift she’s on the ice,” said Boston College coach Tom Mutch. “She doesn’t leave anything on the rink. She plays very, very hard day in and day out. She’s a tough player to play against and she’s playing with more tempo this year. She’s always a threat.”

Senior left winger Cheryl White, who is one of Desmet’s linemates along with Andrea Steranko, said she loves being on her line.

“She’s a great hockey player,” said White. “She’s a good leader, she’s good with the puck, and she’s very smart. I always know where she’s going to be. She always helps you out, and she puts the puck in the net.”

“She’s an awesome leader,” said sophomore right wing Kate Sunstrum. “She’s an inspiration.”

Desmet, who chose Maine over Dartmouth, Mercyhurst, and Minnesota, said her four years at Maine have been enjoyable and beneficial.

“It has been a learning experience from day one,” said the 5-foot-8 Desmet. “I’ve grown so much since I’ve been here. I’ve come from being a good player to a better player. I want to step up my game even more.”

Maine first-year coach Guy Perron said Desmet is getting every chance to do that.

“She’s going to get 25-30 minutes a game,” said Perron, who has her on the power-play and penalty-kill units in addition to her regular shift.

“She’s a power forward who can take control of a game any time she wants,” said Perron. “When she’s on, we’re on. We feed off her, and she’s been very good so far this year.”

Desmet said, “I love getting this much ice time.

“That’s something that’s big for me. When you’re playing every second or third shift, you get on a roll. You’ve got that mindset. You can’t sit on the bench and think about something else because you’re out the next shift.”

With the graduation of the school’s all-time leading scorers, Meagan Aarts and Karen Droog, that could have put additional pressure on Desmet. But she doesn’t see it that way.

“I just go out and play hockey like I have since I was 3 years old. I try to play hard and smart and stick to the game plan,” said Desmet, who constantly works on her skating as well as the other aspects of her game.

She is excited about Perron and the team’s potential. They are 3-2-2 and, despite opening the Hockey East schedule with a 3-2 loss and 2-2 tie with Boston College, the Bears outshot the Eagles 84-42.

“Guy put in some new systems that were tough to get used to at first. But with each game, things are falling into place better and better and we’ve got that winning attitude,” said Desmet, a communications major. “It’s exciting.”