BANGOR – Two University of Maine hockey players will perform community service as punishment for their involvement in a fight over a woman last month in Orono.

Mike Hamilton, 22, of Victoriaville, British Columbia, and Wes Clark, 22, of Oakville, Ontario, each pleaded no contest Thursday in Penobscot County Superior Court to disorderly conduct charges as part of their plea agreements with prosecutors.

Both were sentenced to serve 100 hours of community service.

Hamilton, who initiated the fight, also must pay a $500 fine upon completing his community service as part of his sentence. Because Clark played a lesser role in the fight, his charge will be dismissed if he serves all 100 hours.

“I’m glad to have it over,” Clark said, standing on the courthouse steps after the hearing.

UM athletics officials plan to work this week with Clark, a sophomore, and Hamilton, a junior, to determine where to go from here, interim Athletic Director Blake James said Thursday.

“It’s something they are looking to move forward with in their lives,” he said.

James will determine the players’ futures with the UM hockey program.

“What I’m going to do is evaluate how the courts decided the cases and then meet with each of them [Hamilton and Clark] individually and apply the [UM] Student-Athlete Code of Conduct and move forward from there,” he said.

James said he wants to address the situation as quickly as possible and hopes to make a decision by next week.

“The code of conduct is pretty well structured,” James said. “I think we’ll look at these situations and address them appropriately.”

Hamilton and Clark were suspended from the team indefinitely on Nov. 16 for violating the Student-Athlete Code of Conduct. Neither has been allowed to practice or play for the Black Bears hockey team during their suspensions.

The original charges against the men, who both wore suits and ties and said little during the hearing, were downgraded from assault and aggravated criminal trespass. Further investigation indicated they went to the apartment without the intention to start a fight, Penobscot County Deputy District Attorney Michael Roberts said Thursday.

“In the cold light of day, we’ve gotten a clearer picture of what went on,” he said after the hearing.

Along with Clark and four other hockey players, Hamilton went to the Washburn Place apartment complex Nov. 13 to confront a man who had been involved with his ex-girlfriend.

The man, a 21-year-old member of the UM baseball team, was there with the woman when Hamilton challenged him to fight, police said. The argument heated up when another roommate in the apartment approached with a baseball bat, and Hamilton assaulted the ballplayer in the apartment doorway before the fight spilled inside.

Clark and his other teammates tried to prevent the situation from worsening when they saw the roommate approach with the bat, Clark’s defense attorney, Jeffrey Silverstein of Bangor, said after the hearing.

“It was [Clark’s] intention and the other players’ intention to de-escalate the matter,” he said.

Charged with criminal trespass in connection with the fight were hockey players Travis Wight, 23, of Fannystelle, Manitoba; Brent Shepheard, 22, of Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia; Bret Tyler, 20, of Maynard, Mass., and Rob Bellamy, 20, of Westfield, Mass.

Those four men, scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 23, each received one-game suspensions from the university.

Roberts said those players have been offered a plea agreement similar to the one given to Clark. Each must perform 100 hours of community service, and the charges then would be dropped.

The fight ended after three or four minutes, and the hockey players and others left the apartment. The injured man later had friends drive him to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. He received stitches over his left eye and was released, police said.

The victim asked that no charges be pressed against Hamilton, Roberts said. Prosecutors were concerned that a more serious charge on Hamilton’s record would make it difficult for him to enter the United States in the future, he said.

“There was no intention to go there to cause a fight,” Roberts said during the hearing.

James refused to characterize how he might respond to the fact that the original charges were reduced by virtue of the plea agreement.

“I have a lot of confidence in our legal system, and I think that this has played its course, and now I need to look at it from our athletic department and our Student-Athlete Code of Conduct point of view,” James said.

At the time their suspensions were imposed, Hamilton and Clark both were unable to play because of injuries. Hamilton suffered a knee injury in a Nov. 6 game, while Clark was undergoing rehabilitation after breaking his leg last summer.

Hamilton had played in nine games and had recorded three assists.

BDN sportswriter Pete Warner contributed to this report.