Sports fans will be buzzing around the University of Maine on Friday night, with the Black Bears men’s hockey team hosting perennial rival Boston University at Alfond Arena and the high school football Class C state championship being played on the adjacent Morse Field.
UMaine officials in conjunction with the Maine Principals’ Association have taken steps to address any parking issues that might be related to the two games that are set to start slightly less than 30 minutes apart.
The Class C football state final between Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield and Cape Elizabeth is scheduled for a 7:06 p.m. opening kickoff, with the first faceoff in the UMaine-BU hockey game slated for 7:30.
All parking areas typically used by hockey and football crowds on the Orono campus will be open.
But Annie Grant, coordinator for athletic facilities and special events in the university’s athletic department, said high school football fans also are being encouraged to take advantage of shuttle bus service that will be available from two outlying parking sites on campus, the Collins Center for the Arts lot and the nearby Belgrade lot.
Shuttle bus service will run between those two lots and university’s fieldhouse near both the football field and hockey rink from 5:30 to 10 p.m. to accommodate fans both before and after the games.
“Certainly the parking in and around the Alfond and the football field is going to be limited,” MPA assistant executive director Mike Burnham said. “But the university has set up shuttle buses from some of the perimeter lots to get people back and forth to the field or to the Alfond.”
Grant and Matt Curtis, business director for the UMaine athletic department, met with MPA officials and representatives from MCI and Cape Elizabeth High School on Tuesday to share information about parking and other game-management issues.
Grant added that maps of the UMaine campus highlighting the CCA and Belgrade lots and the available shuttle-bus service have been sent to both schools to further encourage their use by football fans.
This is not the first time a state championship high school football game and a UMaine men’s hockey match have shared parking on the same evening.
Two years ago, MCI played in the Class D state championship high school football game at the same time UMaine hosted the University of Vermont in a Hockey East matchup, and Burnham recalled no issues in accommodating the parking needs of fans for both events.
“Credit to the university that they did a great job with the shuttle buses and directing traffic and handicap parking, they will take care of those issues,” he said. “For most other people, the shuttle bus will be available.”
With Alfond Arena not available to the participating football teams as a staging area, MCI will be based before and after the game at the Paul Mitchell Batting Pavilion next to the football field as it was two years ago when the Huskies faced Oak Hill of Sabattus in the Class D state championship game.
Cape Elizabeth will utilize locker-room space in the adjacent field house as is typically the case for the visiting team in the annual state final hosted by UMaine.
UMaine hosts one of the four high school football state championship game each year on the Friday night before Thanksgiving in a rotation involving Classes B, C and D.
The other three state finals are held the next day at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.
This Saturday’s Portland schedule begins with the Class A game between Scarborough and Windham at 11:06 a.m., followed by the Class D matchup between Foxcroft Academy of Dover-Foxcroft and Wells at 2:36 p.m. and the Class B game between Skowhegan and Marshwood of North Berwick at 6:06 p.m.
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