Pat Laughlin was a key member of the University of Maine men’s soccer team during his undergraduate days.

Now, the former team captain and four-year letterwinner is returning to Orono as the head coach of the Black Bears.

UMaine athletic director Blake James on Tuesday announced Laughlin has been hired to take over the program.

Laughlin, a native of Dallas, replaces Travers Evans, who stepped down from the post in November after seven seasons directing the Bears.

Laughlin comes to UMaine after spending last season at the University of Rhode Island, which won the Atlantic 10 championship. Prior to that, he spent six seasons at Dean College in Franklin, Mass., guiding the Bulldogs to a 69-36-6 overall record and a trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association national finals in 2002.

Dean also earned two New England titles and produced four All-Americans under the direction of Laughlin, who also served as assistant athletic director. He was the New England Region Coach of the Year and was a finalist for National Coach of the Year in 2002.

“We are excited to bring Pat Laughlin on board as our men’s soccer coach,” James said. “The pool of applicants for this position was strong and we are especially pleased to bring a former Black Bear student-athlete back as a coach.”

Laughlin, who earned a B.A. in history from UMaine in 1992, inherits a program that has struggled in recent years. The Bears went 0-17 last season and have lost 22 consecutive games.

An underfunded UMaine program compiled a 22-80-13 record the last seven seasons, but should be able to improve its competitiveness. While the Bears had only 3.5 scholarship equivalencies in 2006, America East has mandated teams must increase the minimum number of scholarships to 5.75 in 2007, 6.5 in 2008 and 7.5 in 2009.

“The new coach will have an opportunity to make a real impact,” Evans said after his resignation.

Prior to coaching at Dean, Laughlin was the head coach at Champlain College in Vermont and served as an assistant at Division I Cleveland State, where he also earned a master’s of education in Sports Management in 1996.

Whitcomb earns A-10 honor

UMaine senior quarterback Ron Whitcomb accomplished a great deal on the field during his four-year career.

He also excelled in the classroom.

Whitcomb on Tuesday was named the 2006 Atlantic 10 Football Conference Student-Athlete of the Year.

The East Rochester, N.Y., native boasts a 3.67 grade point average as a graduate student in education administration. Last spring he earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education.

Whitcomb was among 94 student-athletes to earn spots on the academic all-conference team. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher and be a starter or key reserve on his team.

Voting is conducted by Atlantic 10 sports information directors.

Whitcomb helped guide the Black Bears to a 6-5 record last fall. He completed 151 of 240 passes for 1,398 yards and nine touchdowns with eight interceptions. He also rushed 162 times for 361 yards and six TDs.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder completed his career as UMaine’s all-time leader in completions (755), pass attempts (1,276) and total offense (8,801 yards). Whitcomb finished with 68 TD passes and was only the second quarterback in school history to lead the team in passing in four different seasons.

Other UMaine all-academic selections were, offense: QB Michael Brusko, center Ryan Canary, tackle Shawn Demaray, fullback Ken Henry, tackle Justin Roberts; and defense: safety Jonathan Calderon, end Josh Caldwell, tackle Jonathan Pirruccello, safety Joe Vanidestine and linebacker John Wormuth.

Barker, Underwood near 1,000th

Bracey Barker and Ashley Underwood have been playing basketball together since their AAU days.

Now, as seniors on the University of Maine basketball team, they are poised to reach a milestone on the same day.

Underwood and Barker are each expected to score their 1,000th career point Wednesday afternoon when the Black Bears play at America East foe Maryland Baltimore County.

Underwood, a scrappy 5-foot-8 guard from Benton, needs four points to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Barker, a versatile 6-1 forward from Bar Harbor, is five points shy of the accomplishment.

Barker and Underwood represent UMaine’s top two scorers, averaging 15.3 and 13.7 points, respectively. That means both are likely Wednesday to add their names to the list of 14 players who have scored 1,000 points in a Black Bears uniform.

Should they both succeed, it would be the first time two UMaine players have accomplished the feat during the same game. Underwood and Barker have both scored in double figures in each of UMaine’s six conference games this season.

Missy Traversi was the last Bears player to reach 1,000 points, that coming in 2005. Melissa Heon (2004) and Heather Ernest (2003) also had done so in recent seasons.

Key NAC matchup set tonight

Something has to give this evening at Dearborn Gymnasium as the University of Maine-Farmington plays host to nationally ranked Maine Maritime Academy of Castine in a battle of North Atlantic Conference women’s basketball unbeatens.

Coach Jamie Beaudoin’s Beavers go into the 5:30 p.m. contest 12-3 overall, 8-0 in conference play. Coach Craig Dagan’s Mariners, ranked 19th in the d3hoops.com Division III national poll, are 15-0, including a 7-0 NAC mark.

“Historically, the key to this game has been second-chance points and taking care of the ball,” Beaudoin said. “We will need to rebound the ball very well, as well as force a few more turnovers to gain some extra possessions.”

UMF is coming off victories over Castleton State, Johnson State and Wheelock College on consecutive days last weekend. MMA knocked off previously top-ranked Bowdoin College of Brunswick last Wednesday, then downed Saint Joseph’s College of Standish on Saturday.

Key players for the Beavers include Kari Simpson of Wells and Karen Sirois of Augusta, while the Mariners counter with Alyssa Burns of Dixfield, Julia Knights of Brookton and Shelley Gott-Stilwell of Tremont.

The men’s game pitting UMF against MMA follows at 7:30.