ORONO – Katie Abrahamson is going home.

After spending two years with the University of Maine women’s basketball program as an assistant to coach Joanne Palombo, Abrahamson has been hired as an assistant at Iowa State University.

The 27-year-old Abrahamson is a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and will be living within a half-hour’s drive of her family.

“I’m very happy for her personally and professionally,” Palombo said Monday. “There weren’t many jobs that she could go to at this time, because of the timing, but this one is very much different in that it was a return home for her, just like when I returned to Maine.”

Abrahamson could not be reached for comment.

Palombo said with Maine’s first practice scheduled for Oct. 15, she is scrambling to fill the vacancy. The third-year coach plans to hire an interim coach as soon as possible and then conduct a more in-depth search next spring.

At Maine, Abrahamson was responsibile for on-court coaching and recruiting of post players. She also did scouting, and coordinated team travel and strength training.

Palombo admits losing Abrahamson two weeks before the season’s first practice is tough.

“Although it’s inconvenient, it’s a reflection on our success and a reflection on the job Katie has done at Maine,” Palombo said. “Good assistants will get recruited away. We just wish her well.”

Abrahamson, who served as an assistant coach at Duquesne University prior to coming to Maine, played her college ball at the University of Georgia and at Iowa.

She earned a B.S. in physical education/sports administration from Iowa in 1990 and has a master’s in education from Duquesne in 1991.

It was pretty much a campus affair Sunday night when the University of Maine hockey team took the ice during its annual “Midnight Madness” practice.

An estimated 1,500 fans, most of whom appeared to be UMaine students, welcomed Coach Shawn Walsh and the 1994-95 Black Bears at 12:01 a.m.

The Maine players were introduced via a shootout competition pitting the team’s American players against its Canadian representatives. It should come as no surprise that the Canadians beat the Americans 8-3.

Walsh said he was not displeased with the size of the crowd.

“Not for a Monday,” Walsh said. “It was better than any other Monday we’ve ever had. It was great. I think the students appreciate it and it kind of kicks off the season for us.”

The few hundred people who stuck around after the shootout were treated to an inpromptu intrasquad scrimmage. Walsh said it was a reward for hard work.

“Normally, I don’t like to scrimmage on the first night, because sometimes guys get overly excited and we might have an injury,” Walsh explained. “I wanted to let these guys know I appreciate how hard they worked in dry-land (training), so I let them go ahead and have a little bit of a scrimmage.”

There were numerous new faces wearing Maine uniforms. One of the most notable was freshman forward Shawn Wansborough of Deseronto, Ontario.

Not only did he display some slick offensive skills, but he was wearing jersey No. 9, last donned by Paul Kariya, now making millions with Anaheim of the NHL.

“He wanted it,” Walsh said. “He’s a top recruit and will be a real good player here. He’s more like a (Scott) Pellerin than he is a Kariya and he showed that right away in the scrimmage.”