The University of Maine will soon be upon the fall athletics schedule, as football and field hockey both have their upcoming 2022 slate already set. Last week, part of the winter sports schedule also was released when men’s ice hockey found out their dates and opponents for 2022-23.
The football team is coming off a 6-5 mark (4-4 Colonial Athletic Association) in 2021, winning five of their last six games including road victories over Division I UMass and the annual rivalry game over UNH to close out the year. Nick Charlton, who went 14-13 in three seasons as head coach, stepped down from his helm to become the offensive coordinator at UConn. Jordan Stevens (class of 2010) who played for the Black Bears became the 37th head man in the history of the program on December 7. Maine has all game times set for the 2022 campaign except for the opener on the road when they visit Division I Independent New Mexico State on Saturday, September 3. The home opener is a 1 p.m. kickoff on September 10 against Colgate, before heading back on the road to face another D1 opponent Boston College out of the ACC on 9/17 at 7:30 p.m. After a week off on 9/24, the Bears open up conference play when they host Villanova on 10/1 at 1 p.m, before a road trip to one of the two new CAA members Hampton University the following Saturday at 2 p.m. Homecoming is 10/15 at 1 p.m. as they host that second new member of the conference Monmouth University. A road trip to Stony Brook will kick off at 3:30 on 10/22, before taking on Richmond at Alfond Stadium at 1 p.m. on 10/29. Maine then heads to Rhode Island November 5 (1 p.m.) and Albany November 12 (12 p.m.), before closing out the 2022 regular season in another battle for the Brice-Cowell Musket against UNH in Orono on November 19 at 12 p.m.
The field hockey team had a highly successful 2021 season, winning their first America East Tournament Championship in program history before losing a heartbreaker in overtime to Miami-Ohio in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Maine (15-7, 7-1 America East in 2021) returns alot of experience and battle tested players to the upcoming fall roster. The Black Bears begin play on August 15 in an exhibition matchup at Boston University at 12 p.m. They stay on the road to open the regular season August 27th and August 28th at 1 p.m. each day at UMass and Northwestern. The home opener will be September 2nd against Dartmouth (3 p.m.), and they also host Quinnipiac the same weekend on September 4 (1 p.m.). They’ll stay at home for more non-conference matchups on September 9th vs Hofsta (3 p.m.) and September 11th vs Kent State (2:30 p.m.). Maine will play a single game at Northeastern at noon on September 18th, before the conference season starts in Orono on September 23rd vs UNH (3 p.m.) and September 25th vs Albany (1 p.m.). The additional home America East contests are against the University of California on October 7th at 3 p.m., October 21st vs Vermont at 3 p.m., Stanford on October 28th at 3 p.m., and UC-Davis on October 30th at 1 p.m. They also host Merrimack in non-conference on October 2nd at 2:30. The road conference schedule consists of UMass-Lowell on September 30th at 3 p.m., and a visit to Rhode Island to take on Bryant University on October 14th at 4 p.m. The Black Bears also play two more non-conference games away from Orono on October 9th at 1 p.m. at Providence, and Boston University on October 18th at 3:30.
The men’s ice hockey team will be under the direction of second year head coach Ben Barr. In his first season behind the bench, Maine went 7-22-4 (5-17-2 in Hockey East) and were bounced in the opening round of the conference playoffs 6-2 by Merrimack College. (All game times to be announced)- The Black Bears get things going by playing an exhibition against the University of Prince Edward Island at the Alfond Arena on October 1st. They then head to the IceBreaker Tournament in Denver, Colorado to open the 2022 regular season with games against Air Force and Denver on October 7th and 8th. They’ll play a single game on the road at Bentley University on October 15th, before the home openers in Orono on October 22nd and 23rd against Quinnipiac. Eight of the next 12 games will be within Hockey East, with the conference openers being at home on October 28th and 29th vs Northeastern. American International College and Canisius College invade the Alfond for non-conference single games on November 26th and December 10th, and after a two week break the Black Bears close out the calendar year by taking a road trip to play at Colgate University on December 30th and 31st. The remainder of the schedule beginning in January features a non-conference series in Orono against Alaska-Anchorage on January 6th and 7th, and also two game home Hockey East series with UMass-Lowell, Providence College, Boston College, and UMass as well as single games with Boston University and Merrimack. The road conference trips see Maine playing two games both at Boston University and UNH, and a weekend of single games against BC and UMass-Lowell.
