One team is fresh off of two huge wins, and the other is just itching to play a game.

The University of Maine hockey team opened the season last weekend with a resounding tournament victory at the Maverick Stampede in Omaha, Neb. Wins over Minnesota (4-0) and Wisconsin (6-2) catapulted the Black Bears from No. 13 to No. 5 in both national polls, and turned several heads in the college hockey world.

The Maine football team, meanwhile, was again stuck at home, preparing for its Saturday matchup against last year’s co-Atlantic 10 champion Northeastern University. The off-week was the Black Bears’ second in three weeks thanks to a canceled game against William and Mary. Maine has stagnated at No. 20 in both of its national polls, while Northeastern has been one of the bigger surprises of the season by falling out of both polls altogether.

The biggest event of the weekend, though, will be the Mid Maine Communications Black Bear Classic, which starts on Friday with the first Atlantic Hockey Conference game of the season for both Sacred Heart and Holy Cross. The game will count as a league game for the two schools, and should be a slugfest.

Maine will host the U.S. Under-18 Developmental team in the nightcap. The game will count only as an exhibition.

“It doesn’t matter how we get our games in,” said coach Tim Whitehead. “At this point, with such a young team, it’s important to play games. This will be a good opportunity to try some things out and to try and get the players into a rhythm.” Last weekend, Todd Jackson, Derek Damon and Greg Moore, the first line for the Black Bears, accounted for nine points, including four goals from Jackson, in two wins. The power play produced two goals for Maine, as did the short-handed unit, and Michel Léveillé, the highly-touted winger from Québec, had four assists.

“It was great to see the upper classmen step forward and take charge,” said Whitehead. “It gives us a bit more confidence on the front lines. We can’t get too excited, because we don’t know if it’s going to be consistent yet, but it’s a good start.”

Back to Boston

On the gridiron, the Black Bears make a long-awaited return-trip to Brookline, Mass. for a matchup against Northeastern. Last season, Maine and Northeastern tied atop the A-10 standings, but never faced each other. Maine has a four-game winning streak over the Huskies, and last defeated them 21-9 on Oct. 13, 2001 in Brookline.

This season, NU has been confusing, struggling in a 4-3 start, and is just 2-2 in the conference with losses to Villanova and Hofstra. Maine defeated Hofstra 44-21 earlier in the season, and the win over Northeastern was the Pride’s first win of the season.

Maine brings with it a potent running game led by Marcus Williams, who has 612 yards this season on 113 carries — good for a 122.4 yards per game. Rookie quarterback Ron Whitcomb has also been impressive, throwing for 991 yards and 10 touchdowns, the most ever by a Maine freshman through five games. The Black Bears’ 20-10 win over Richmond on Oct. 4 marked the first game this season that Whitcomb didn’t throw an interception.

This weekend’s football game will be broadcast on Fox Sports New England, starting at 12:15 p.m.

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