Newly appointed University of Maine men’s soccer coach Pat Laughlin said he is “really excited” about returning to his alma mater despite the fact he is inheriting a 22-game losing streak.

“Not many people get the chance to coach where they went to school,” said the 1992 Maine graduate. “I have a passion for the University of Maine. I really enjoyed my time here as a young man and a student-athlete.”

Laughlin added that he has monitored the program’s progress since graduating and was always willing to help out in any way.

“A lot of the alums feel that way,” added Laughlin, who played for Jim Dyer, who is now the athletic director at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine.

Laughlin replaced Travers Evans, who went 22-80-17 in seven seasons with the under-funded program.

He said it will take some time to build the program.

“I don’t have any specific short-term goals for the team. It’s about getting better and getting used to each other. We want to move forward in a positive environment and work hard,” added Laughlin, an Arlington, Texas, native and former Bear soccer captain.

The 36-year-old Laughlin was an assistant coach at the University of Rhode Island last fall and the Rams won the Atlantic-10 championship and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The former finalist for National Coach of the Year (2002) at Dean College (Mass.) said the way to build a program “is through the center of the team.

“You want the majority of your talent to go down the spine of the team. That’s what you need to compete at this level,” said Laughlin. “In addition to talent, you have to look at the type of person you recruit. Maine is a unique situation. If somebody is talented but isn’t happy here, he’s not going to help the team.

“Jim Dyer was very good at figuring that out. You want to find players who fit that mold,” Laughlin said.

The former head coach at Champlain College (Vt.) and assistant at Cleveland State said he has developed some valuable contacts and hopes current assistant Dan Balaguero will elect to return in that capacity next fall.

Evans started with just 2.5 scholarships seven years ago and had 3.5 last fall. Under NCAA guidelines, a Division I school is allowed 9.9 and most of the schools in America East have at least 8.0 if not the full allotment.

America East has mandated that all of its schools offer at least 5.75 scholarships next fall, 6.5 in ’08 and 7.5 in ’09.

“That will make a big difference,” said Laughlin.

Maine, NU vie in BracketBusters

The Maine men’s basketball team will play a home-and-home series with former American East rival Northeastern University for being one of 102 Division I teams selected in the seventh annual O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters Pool.

Twenty-six of those teams will play on one of the ESPN networks but the Maine-Northeastern match-up, which will be played in Boston on Feb. 17 at 1 p.m., will not be televised.

Northeastern will visit Orono in November or December.

By participating in the pool, teams agree to enter into a home-and-home series.

Northeastern, now a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, and Maine have met 108 times with the Huskies winning 62 of them.

Northeastern is currently 7-15 overall, 5-6 in the CAA while Maine is 10-11 and 5-4 in America East. Maine has won five straight.

Maine was selected in the initial pool for the first time while this is the second consecutive year for Northeastern.

Northeastern was matched up with Rider University (N.J.) last year (92-79 win) and this season (70-69 loss).

Hockey Bears tied for 7th in PWR

Despite an embarrassing 6-1 home loss to Northeastern during a weekend split with the Huskies and the fact they are sixth in Hockey East, the University of Maine’s Black Bears remained seventh in the PairWise Rankings this week.

The PairWise rankings mimic the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s process.

Maine was seventh alone last week and finds itself tied with Michigan State this week.

Maine is just 9-7-1 in Hockey East but has been significantly aided by its 7-0-1 non-conference record including its victory over Minnesota and two road wins over North Dakota.

Road wins over teams rated in the top 15 in the Ratings Percentage Index earn teams bonus points in the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s criteria.

New Hampshire, ranked No. 1 in the nation in the two major polls as well as in the PairWise Rankings, is the only Hockey East team ahead of Maine in the PWR.

Boston College is 12th, Vermont is tied for 13th and Boston University is tied for 15th.

Maine will face the Wildcats in Manchester, N.H. on Friday night and in Durham, N.H., on Saturday evening. Both games start at 7.