He is ready to play and just hopes he gets the chance.

University of Maine sophomore goalie Ben Bishop returned to the practice ice on Thursday, three weeks after suffering his second groin pull in a 5-1 win over Merrimack College.

He has had to remain in Orono and listen to his Black Bears drop four games to Massachusetts in Amherst, Mass. The latter two came in the Hockey East quarterfinals.

Those losses seriously jeopardized the Black Bears’ NCAA Tournament aspirations. Freshman backup Dave Wilson played all four games.

“It’s been tough,” said the 6-foot-7 Bishop. “If I had been in there, I might have been able to help the team. I just want to get back out there and help the team win.”

Bishop praised the performance turned in by Wilson, who stopped 96 shots and allowed 14 goals in the four games.

“He gave us a chance to win every night and that’s all you can ask for. He made some big stops and had two huge wins over Vermont. He has made a name for himself.”

Bishop said the groin is “sore but it’s getting better” and he could play today. He estimated that it is 80 percent healed.

If Maine earns an NCAA tourney berth, he figures he would be “around 95 percent” healthy for the tournament, which begins next weekend.

Bishop is 19-8-2 with a 2.15 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. Wilson is 2-6 with a 3.12 GAA and a .893 save percentage.

Like his teammates, Bishop will continue to monitor the tournaments in the other leagues to see if the 21-14-2 Bears will qualify.

He is from the St. Louis suburb of Des Peres and the Frozen Four will be in St. Louis next month.

“That’s been in the back of my head all season. And now we have to count on other people to get into the tournament. That’s tough,” said Bishop.

Bishop said the mood has been positive during practice.

“We’re preparing like we’re going to be in the tournament. There’s a pretty good chance we will be. The guys are in pretty high spirits knowing we may get a second chance. If we get in, we’ll be a fourth seed and we’ll play a number one seed. No number one seed will want to play us,” said Bishop.

He acknowledged that he will be on edge all weekend awaiting the result of the conference tournaments.

“I won’t be able to sleep Saturday night,” said Bishop.

If the Bears do make the tournament, Bishop doesn’t envision being rusty.

“That won’t be a problem. That’s what practices are for. I get a better workout in practice than I do in a game,” said Bishop.

Marble, Flaherty, Burns honored

University of Southern Maine senior forward Ashley Marble of Topsfield has received two more awards.

The 5-foot-9 Marble has been named to the 10-member, Kodak/WBCA Division III All-American team and was selected the Northeast Region Player of the Year by D3hoops.com.

This is the second straight year she earned each honor.

D3hoops.com’s All-Region team included Marble and Bowdoin College’s Eileen Flaherty on the first team and Maine Maritime Academy’s Alyssa Burns on the second team. All are seniors.

Flaherty is a 5-11 center from Fairfield, Conn., while Burns is a 6-foot guard-forward from Dixfield.

Like Marble, they led their teams to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Flaherty was selected the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s Division III Player of the Year.

Marble, a former standout at Woodland High School, averaged 23.1 points and 12.2 rebounds while shooting 49.6 percent from the floor, including 36.8 percent from 3-point range. She was a 72.3 percent free throw shooter.

Marble concluded her outstanding career with 1,981 points and 1,157 rebounds. She is second all-time in points at USM and is the school’s top rebounder.

USM went 119-10 during her career and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament each year, finishing third in 2005 and as the runner-up last season.

The Huskies went 27-3 this season.

USM went 67-1 against Little East opponents.

Burns averaged 17 points per game to tie for first in the North Atlantic Conference. She also led the conference in field goal percentage (53.3 percent) and averaged 3.03 steals (2nd in the conference) and 8.9 rebounds (4th). She averaged 2.86 assists (11th) and was a 72.3 percent free throw shooter (13th).

She led the Mariners to a 25-4 season.

Flaherty averaged 18.5 points and 6.7 rebounds for the 29-2 Polar Bears. She went 44.8 percent from the floor, including 36.5 percent from 3-point range.

She is the only player, male or female, to be a four-time first team All-NESCAC player. She is the only Bowdoin player, male or female, to eclipse the 1,700-point mark in her career with her 1864 points. She also grabbed 745 rebounds.