When assessing the 2014-15 athletics season at the University of Maine, it is clear that the women’s basketball team provided the lion’s share of the highlights in an otherwise forgettable year.
The final tally for the nine teams that compiled a won-lost record was 115-152-12.
During regular-season conference play, the Black Bears were better at 62-63-8.
But they were just 3-12 in postseason play.
The women’s basketball team was the only one that finished over .500 overall with its 23-9 record. The field hockey (10-10) and softball (22-22) teams were at .500.
Even though the women’s basketball team exceeded expectations, the Black Bears also suffered one of the most devastating losses in the history of the program when Hartford beat them 65-54 in the America East semifinals.
That loss cost them the opportunity to host the America East title game against Albany at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. The buzz in a basketball-crazed state leading up to a Maine-Albany league final would have been off the charts.
Just two years removed from a four-win campaign, the Black Bears’ season included a 14-game winning streak. Attendance increased significantly at the Cross Center.
Game-changer Liz Wood and dynamic guard Sigi Koizar were worth the price of admission. However, three losses in their last four games indicated that the team peaked early.
That will serve as motivation next season as eight seniors focus on making the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 2004. Their recent trip to Italy should create an even better camaraderie and knowledge of each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
The men’s hockey team was a disappointment as it went 14-22-3 and finished 10th in Hockey East at 8-12-2. They were 16-15-4 and 9-8-3, respectively, the previous year.
Maine has won just 15 of its last 45 games dating back to the end of the 2013-14 season, and the program is gradually losing relevance and fans. Maine drew an average of 4,178 per game this season in the 5,124-seat Alfond Arena.
The Black Bears strung together three of their best performances in the best-of-three Hockey East first-round series at Vermont, but a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 3 ended their season.
Inexperienced and inconsistent goaltending, underwhelming performances from some of its key veterans and an unproductive power play were among the reasons for the subpar campaign.
Coach Red Gendron, who will be in his third season in the fall, needs to give the Alfond Arena faithful reason for optimism. Missing seven of the last eight NCAA tournaments after making nine straight appearances is wearing thin on the Maine fans.
Gendron has done an exceptional job promoting the program across the state, but wins are the only elixir to cure the program’s ills.
Football went a predictable 5-6, 4-4 in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Substantial graduation losses and inexperience at several positions, including the quarterback spot, resulted in an expected drop-off from the CAA title-winning 10-3 season in 2013.
The Black Bears should be markedly improved next fall after several young players received valuable playing time.
The men’s basketball team went a program-worst 3-27 (2-27 vs. Division I opponents), including a 13-game losing streak, under first-year coach Bob Walsh. The record speaks for itself.
Walsh inherited a mess and is in the process of rebuilding it. To his credit, he didn’t offer excuses and held his team accountable for its dismal play.
There’s nowhere to go but up for this program. It simply can’t get any worse.
The Black Bears are 18-46 in league play the past four seasons.
The baseball team was another that underachieved. For the second straight year, Maine went two-and-out in America East tournament play and was outscored 20-7 in the postseason.
Maine finished 24-28 overall (22-28 vs. Division I teams) and graduates three of its top four hitters and RBI men.
The women’s hockey, soccer and field hockey teams had up-and-down campaigns.
The women’s hockey team earned its first ever Hockey East home-ice playoff berth but lost its last eight games, including 3-2 and 1-0 (OT) setbacks to Connecticut in the Hockey East quarterfinals.
Maine, 10-20-3 overall and 9-11-1 in Hockey East, scored only nine goals in its last eight games.
The soccer team also was offensively challenged, scoring one goal or less in 17 of its 18 games. Maine (4-8-6) tallied only four goals in conference play but lost just once, going 2-1-5 thanks to its defensive integrity and exceptional goalkeeping.
Both the women’s hockey and soccer teams have top-shelf goaltenders returning in Meghann Treacy (hockey) and the tandem of Lauren Swant and Claudia Dube-Trempe (soccer). But if they are going to improve, they will have to find some goal scorers.
The field hockey team (10-10, 3-2 AE) averaged 2.6 goals per game, but it had problems keep the ball out of its cage (1.91 allowed). The Black Bears allowed 14 goals in their last four games, including a 5-2 loss to New Hampshire in the playoffs.
Maine has not won a field hockey playoff game since 2006.
The softball team went 10-7 in conference play thanks to a tremendous season from senior pitcher Alexis Bogdanovich, who went 15-7 en route to being named the America East Pitcher of the Year. But the Black Bears were 7-15 in games in which she didn’t receive a decision.
They joined the men’s hockey team and women’s basketball team as the other team to win a playoff game as they went 1-2 in the America East tournament.
Among outstanding individual performances were the ones turned in by Bogdanovich, Wood and Robyn McFetters, who won the hammer throw in the America East and New England championships.
And field hockey star Holly Stewart capped her memorable college career by playing for the Canadian national team last month.
There is reason for optimism for 2015-16 with football standing a reasonable chance of kickstarting the campaign with a strong season depending upon injuries. Women’s basketball could eclipse last season’s win total.
The prestigious Ice Breaker Tournament in Portland kicks off the men’s hockey season with Michigan State, North Dakota and Lake Superior State joining Maine.