Men’s Hockey

Hockey East Semifinals

MAINE vs. BOSTON COLLEGE

Time, site: Friday, 5 p.m., FleetCenter, Boston

Records: Maine 20-11-7, BC 23-6-7

Series, last meeting: BC leads 45-35-6; 2-2 tie on 3/5/05

Key players: Maine – C Derek Damon (14 goals, 13 assists), C Jon Jankus (8 & 17), RW Greg Moore (14 & 9), C Michel Leveille (12 & 11), D Bret Tyler (6 & 14), D Mike Lundin (1 & 13), G Jimmy Howard (19-11-7, 1.97 goals-against average, .921 save percentage); BC – C Ryan Shannon (14 & 28), RW Dave Spina (12 & 14), C Brian Boyle (15 & 8), D Peter Harrold (4 & 10), D Andrew Alberts (3 & 10), G Cory Schneider (10-0-4, 1.64, .925), G Matti Kaltiainen (12-6-3, 1.81, .921)

Outlook: The teams played just two weekends ago but both will have a different lineup tonight. BC will be without leading scorer and Hockey East Player of the Year Patrick Eaves (19 & 29), who is out with a bruised rib cage and lung. Chris Collins (6 & 8) will take his place on the top line with Shannon and Spina. Maine has lost RW Rob Bellamy for the season with a broken hand he suffered blocking a shot in practice Wednesday and LW Brent Shepheard is doubtful with an abdominal strain. Ben Murphy will take Shepheard’s place if he can’t play and Tom Zabkowicz will move up from defense to replace Bellamy. Bellamy and Shepheard are Maine’s most physical forwards so the other forwards must fill that void. Maine’s forwards will have to do a good job blocking out in the neutral zone to give the defensemen more time to make break-out passes. They must also keep BC on the perimeter when the Eagles establish a sustained forecheck.

Women’s Basketball

Women’s National Invitation Tournament

MAINE vs. WEST VIRGINIA

Time, site: Friday, 7 p.m., WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, W. Va.

Records: Maine 20-9, West Virginia 17-12

Series, last meeting: first meeting

Key players: Maine – 5-7 G Kim Corbitt (9.1 ppg, 4.3 apg, .486 FG pct., .654 3-pt. pct.), 5-7 G Missy Traversi (13.3 ppg, 3.1 apg, .385 3-pt. pct.), 6-1 F Bracey Barker (12.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, .492 FG pct.), 5-11 F Monica Peterson (9.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg), 5-9 G Ashley Underwood (8.2 ppg, .398 3-pt. pct, .918 FT pct.), 6-3 C Abby Schrader (6.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg); WVU – 6-0 G Meg Bulger (19.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.9 spg, .818 FT pct.), 5-6 G Yolanda Paige (11.8 ppg, 8.8 apg), 5-10 G Chakhia Cole (6.9 ppg, 7.0 rpg), 6-2 C Sanni Olayinka (6.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg), 6-2 F Ramika McGee (2.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg)

Outlook: The Bears make their second WNIT appearance in three years, this time hoping to advance. UMaine’s challenge is overcoming injuries to Corbitt and Traversi. If one or the other is unable to play, Underwood may see duty at point guard. The Mountaineers are coming off a 7-9 season in the tough Big East, but were 11-3 overall at home. WVU is led by sophomore Bulger, a Kodak/WBCA All-America finalist who led the league in scoring on the strength of 14 20-point games and 73 3-pointers. WVU features quickness and size and ranks 16th nationally with a .373 3-point percentage. UMaine is fifth at .393.