The 1992 women’s soccer season, second-year head coach Diane Boettcher is convinced, is going to be one to remember. She has dubbed it Maine’s “Trial By Fire.”

It will be such a difficult year, the team will have to work hard just to equal its 1991 record of 5-10-1.

“This year, we sport a complete NCAA Division I schedule with one exception, and that’s Division II Stonehill, a very strong team,” Boettcher said. “It will be a tough year.”

Maine opens Sept. 5 at 2 p.m. at the University of Hartford, which made it to the NCAA Division I Final Four last year. The North Atlantic Conference rival beat Maine 6-0 in ’91.

“We get our trial by fire early,” Boettcher said, “because our next game is with Brown, one of the Ivy teams.”

Getting past those first games will be difficult, but Boettcher is confident her team will survive.

“The team’s commitment and psyche is such that we will come through our trial by fire tempered, like steel,” she said. “We have yet to beat any Division I team, so our schedule is a brazen step. But we’re Maine’s Division I institution, and we must play a Division I schedule.

“Last year, our in-state margin of victory was six goals a game. We have to go out there and take on the Goliaths. There is always the chance we will not equal last year’s record, but this sort of thing wakes you up a bit.”

Maine will be young again, but the players coming in are top quality and the returnees are much improved. Boettcher considers the veterans “a very dedicated, hard-core group in which the wheat has been separated from the chaff.”

The first practice is Friday, and the women return having promised their coach they’ve been doing interval training workouts religiously, so they could “come off the blocks hot and fast.”

The team will face triple sessions, with morning and afternoon practices and evening scrimmages. They should expect a lot of “condition” play in which the focus is to work on player decision-making on the field.

“You take a technical situation and become responsible to the tactical challenge that will solve it on the field,” Boettcher explained.

The returnees include junior midfielder Christina Contardo of Chelmsford, Mass., who holds school records for most goals and points in a game, and sophomore midfielder Jennifer Farina of Montgomery, Mass., the leading scorer with 16 points on six goals and four assists.

Newcomer Susan Roderick, a forward from Portland, was a two-time Class A All-Western Maine selection. Recruit Rachel Ryan, a three-time All-Maine player and two-time Naitonal Soccer Coaches Association of America All-New England honoree, may be sidelined for a while with a knee injury.

Other top recruits include midfielder Kristin Korszeniewski of Hanover, Mass., a former Massachusetts All-State player, and midfielder Shannon McArdle of Millbury, Mass., a Central Massachusetts All-Star.

A major blow to the program is the loss of junior goalkeeper Nicole Ricci of Andover, Mass., who holds school records for saves and shutouts. She is academically ineligible.

“We step to Plan B,” Boettcher said, “which is sophomore backup goalkeeper Allison Snooks.”

Snooks should be a commanding presence, after testing herself in spring practice. “You can’t ignore the fact she’s six feet tall,” Boettcher said, “and she has shown a lot of poise and maturing.”

Freshmen hopefuls are Jennifer Terpolilli of North Kingstown, R.I.; and Kim Watson of Milford, Mass.

Recruiting is “light-years ahead of my first year,” Boettcher said. Maine is attractive to players of junior national team caliber now, thanks to a respectable schedule.

For co-captain Patty McBride, a senior back from Newton, Mass., and senior back Jen Curran of Scarborough, this is a meaningful year. McBride and Curran are the only players who have been with the program since its inception as a club sport.

“This is a very big step for us,” Boettcher said of the women who make up the 1992 team. “Patty and Jen are the only players who have two years of Division I experience. It’s going to be a pretty gutsy year.” – 1992 Maine Women’s Soccer Schedule: Sept. 5, at Hartford, 2 p.m.; 12 at Brown, 7 p.m.; 13 at Stonehill, 1 p.m.; 16 at Harvard, 4:30 p.m.; 20 Rhode Island, 11 a.m.; 26 at Vermont, 11 a.m.; 27 at Colgate, noon; Oct. 3 at Stony Brook Tournament versus St. Bonaventure, noon, and versus Stony Brook, 2:30 p.m.; 4 consolation game, noon; championship, 2:30 p.m.; 10 at Providence, 1 p.m.; 11 at Canisius, 1 p.m.; 17 Boston College, 11 a.m.; 18 Delaware, noon; 29 UNH, 2 p.m.; Nov. 7-8, NCAA First Round. Maine Women’s Soccer Schedule Sept. 5 at Hartford, 2 p.m. Sept. 12 at Brown, 7 p.m. Sept. 13 at Stonehill, 1 p.m. Sept. 16 at Harvard, 4:30 p.m. Sept. 20 Rhode Island, 11 a.m. Sept. 26 at Vermont, 11 a.m. Sept. 27 at Colgate, noon Oct. 3 at Stony Brook Tournament

vs. St. Bonaventure, noon

vs. Stony Brook, 2:30 p.m. Oct. 4 at Stony Brook Tournament

consolation game, noon

championship game, 2:30 p.m. Oct. 10 at Providence, 1 p.m. Oct. 11 at Canisius, 1 p.m. Oct. 17 Boston College, 11 a.m. Oct. 18 Delaware, noon Oct. 29 UNH, 2 p.m.