BOSTON — It took nine years, but Katie Lachapelle found her way back to New England just fine, thank you.

Lachapelle, who played varsity ice hockey for Lewiston High School in the 1990s, attended Providence and played women’s hockey for the Friars before embarking on a coaching career. That loop has taken her to Union, Niagara and Ohio State, but ultimately she found her way back to Boston.

“It was long, but it was a good experience to get away,” Lachapelle said. “But I’m glad to be back this way, definitely.”

Lachapelle is in her second season working at Boston University, and gets a chance to complete the full circle Tuesday when her squad visits Lewiston to take on the University of Maine.

“When they played Vermont there last year, I talked to them and asked, ‘Hey, what about us next time,'” Lachapelle said.

She and defender Kasey Boucher, also a Lewiston native, will get the chance to skate in their hometown for the first time.

“I don;t know who’s going to have more fans because of us, BU or Maine,” Lachapelle said with a laugh.

One of the biggest things is that there will be fans at all. In just the last 10 years, Lachapelle noted, women’s hockey has grown exponentially, and she’s seen it at all of her stops.

“The biggest thing is, the amount of teams,” Lachapelle said. “There are so many more teams now compared to when I was playing. Back then, we had three lines, and two of them were pretty darn good, then you had that third group. Now, every team has four line, eight ‘D’ plus we have kids sitting in the stands sometimes who don’t get to dress for games. There are so many more hockey players out there, which has been great to see.”

When Lachapelle played at Providence, the power was in the East, and really four or five teams each year ever had a chance at a national title. Now, she said, the depth is incredible, and the talent level has soared.

“The speed and the strength of the players now is so much different,” Lachapelle said. “They’re all a lot faster and stronger, training is a lot different.”

“Schools have put a lot more support into it, too,” Lachapelle said. “From strength coaches to trainers, everything. Heck, I had time to play two sports (at Providence). Now, that’s pretty close to impossible. The seasons overlap, and they’re longer.”

It’s noticeable, too, she said, that many of the players who are in the college system now started playing regularly after one particular event.

“The first Olympics for women’s hockey helped tremendously,” Lachapelle said. “A lot of girls started to play hockey, and now we’re seeing a lot of those girls who started then come through at this level. Those role models they had showed people you could be big and strong and fast and still be a girl.”

“Girls hockey is growing so fast,” Boucher added. “I remember when St. Dom’s first got their first team, it was basically just for fun. Now, I went back to watch, and you can tell, there’s much more talent and intensity. Eventually, I think they’ll get to a higher level. Now, the girls getting to the high school level are the girls who played when they were younger.”

On the coaching side, the Lewiston-native has gotten used to the side of coaching most people don’t see.

“When you get into coaching, as much as you’d love to think most of it is the on-ice stuff, that’s probably the smaller part of what you do,” Lachapelle said. “I like the traveling, I like the recruiting and going out to meet the players.”

Being in Boston, Lachapelle said, the travel isn’t always of the longer variety.

“Where we’re right here in Boston, there are a lot of games right here in New England,” Lachapelle said. “There’s always a game to see.”

Not that she doesn’t do her fair share of on-ice coaching, too.

“She’s a great coach,” Boucher said. “Really, they’re fun and there’s really nothing bad to say about any of them.”

And now that Lachapelle is back to within a couple hours of home, Lachapelle is hoping there are no more big moves in the near future.

“I love New England, I don’t know if I’d ever want to live outside of New England again,” Lachapelle said. “I didn’t think I’d ever want to live in a city, either, but I love it.”

And she’ll get a chance to be on the bench-coaching side of things Tuesday, when her Terriers make the trek to Lewiston to face Maine.

“I am trying to tell everyone I know to come watch,” Lachapelle said. “It’s going to be a great game.”