ORONO, Maine —- As freshmen, Stu Higgins, Jake Rutt, Connor Leen and Andrew Cerretani played on a University of Maine hockey team that ended a four-year NCAA Tournament drought by playing in the NCAA Northeast Regional.
Maine had been to nine consecutive NCAA tournaments before the four-year hiatus.
Just 13 months and an 11-19-8 season later, 12-year head coach Tim Whitehead was fired and replaced by Red Gendron.
Higgins, Rutt, Leen and Cerretani are seniors and will play their final two regular-season home games this weekend when the soaring Northeastern University Huskies invade Orono for a pair of crucial Hockey East games.
Maine (12-17-3, 7-9-2 HE) is tied for eighth place and is trying to secure a top-eight finish, which would ensure a best-of-three home series for the first round of the playoffs.
Northeastern (14-11-4, 9-7-2 HE) is the winner of six straight and is trying to lock down a top-four spot, which would give them a first-round bye and a home berth for the best-of-three quarterfinals.
The four seniors, who will be honored on Saturday night, acknowledge that they have been through a lot of ups and downs at Maine but they said they have cherished the four years and the time has flown by.
Leen has battled Crohn’s disease, an inflammation of the stomach lining, while Higgins has missed 25 of the last 45 games because of knee and foot injuries and illness.
“All four of us have been through a ton since we’ve been here,” said center Higgins, who has produced 10 goals and 16 assists in 115 games. “Going through a coaching change is tough. But I felt we did a good job helping with the transition, and we brought excitement back to the Alfond.
“Even when we haven’t had success, we’ve given everything we had to the program. We’ve had a blast,” said Higgins.
“Growing up in Maine [in Scarborough], I fell in love with the team in the early 2000s, and I’ve been fortunate enough to spend four years here. I thank coach Whitehead for [recruiting me],” said defenseman Rutt (8 & 21 in 113 games). “The adversity we’ve been through has brought the four of us together. We’re a pretty close-knit group.”
As for their top memories, Leen said his first college goal, a game-winner with 2:59 left against Boston College, will always stand out.
“Coach Gendron said you are a young boy when you first come here, and when you leave, you are a well-developed man. All of the experiences we have had definitely contribute to that. I can’t say enough about the people I’ve met and how they’ve shaped me and made me a better man,” said left wing Leen (20 & 27 in 113 games).
Cerretani said it was a goal he scored in the Frozen Fenway win over Boston University (7-3) last year.
“It has been a crazy ride,” said left winger Cerretani (2 & 3 in 64 games). “Even though the two coaches we’ve had view things differently, they are both great coaches, and I learned a lot about myself. I wouldn’t change anything.”
Rutt said it was the “eerie feeling” he experienced playing in his first game at Alfond Arena, a 4-3 loss to UMass Lowell.
“My spine still tingles when I think about that sometimes,” said Rutt.
Higgins said it was the two Frozen Fenway games (Maine also beat New Hampshire 5-4 in overtime his freshman year), playing in the NCAA tournament and beating Boston University in the the Hockey East semifinals (5-3 his freshman year) in Boston’s TD Garden.
“Now our job is to make sure these aren’t our final games at home this season,” said Higgins.
Although they haven’t racked up a ton of points, the quartet has been impactful to the program.
“They’ve seen highs and lows, and they’ve had to battle, but they are going to come out of here as great ambassadors for Black Bear hockey,” said Gendron.
“They’ve been great teammates and great friends, and they deserve a good end to their careers,” said junior captain Devin Shore.
“We’re playing for them this weekend,” said Merchant.