The University of Maine men’s hockey program has received two verbal commitments from players who are leading their respective teams in scoring.

Left winger Ted Purcell, a native of St. John, Newfoundland, and Jeff Marshall, who is from Kyle, Saskatchewan, have announced their intentions to attend Maine on scholarships.

Purcell plays for the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) RoughRiders in the United States Junior Hockey League and has nine goals and nine assists through 18 games. He actually shares the team lead in scoring.

Marshall, a forward who has also seen time on defense this season, has 33 points on 10 goals and 23 assists in 26 games for the La Ronge Ice Wolves of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

Marshall will be in a Maine uniform next fall while Purcell may spend another year in Juniors before coming to Maine in the fall of 2006.

“I’m real excited about it,” said Purcell, who cancelled visits to New Hampshire, RPI and Dartmouth after visiting Maine and making a verbal commitment.

“I went to a game and the atmosphere at the [Alfond] arena was unbelievable,” said Purcell. “The guys treated me real well and that was another plus. And they’ve got a great coaching staff.”

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Purcell said he needs to get stronger and that will ultimately determine whether he comes to Maine next fall or the year after.

“Obviously, I’m looking to come next year. But if coach [Tim] Whitehead feels I need another year in Cedar Rapids, I have no problem with that,” said the 19-year-old Purcell. “It comes down to overall strength and winning the one-on-one battles. I want to be tough to play against. If I need an extra year to get stronger, it won’t be a problem.

“You can always go to a school too early. You can never go too late,” added Purcell, who enjoys Cedar Rapids but will be glad to be closer to home.

“Ted has the talent to impact the college game on a nightly basis. He’s very talented,” said Cedar Rapids coach and general manager Mark Carlson, who played at UMass Lowell and was an assistant at UML and at Northeastern University. “He wants to be a [top-notch] player.”

Carlson said Purcell is “very coachable” and if he works hard off the ice and continues to develop on the ice, “Maine’s getting a heck of a player.”

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Marshall is equally excited about coming to Maine according to Bob Beatty, the coach and director of hockey operations for La Ronge.

“He’s an all-around player with a tremendous work ethic. He has a lot of acceleration and he can obviously score. He’s a pretty responsible player in both ends of the rink,” said Beatty, the SJHL Coach of the Year the past two seasons. “He’s as competitive as they come. He doesn’t lose many one-on-ones.”

The 19-year-old Marshall was on a road trip and couldn’t be reached for comment.