ORONO, Maine – The #6/8 University of Maine men's ice hockey team will embark on its 49th season of varsity play this weekend when it hosts Holy Cross for a pair of games to open the 2025-26 season.
 
The Black Bears and Crusaders will square off on Friday, Oct. 10 and Saturday, Oct. 11 at Alfond Arena, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. both evenings. The contests will stream live on ESPN+ and the game can be listened to via 92.9 FM, 100.5 FM or online at GoBlackBears.com/MIHRadio.

On Friday, Maine Athletics will be hosting a Fan Festival outside of Alfond Arena. The exciting day of hockey will begin at 2 p.m. when the women's hockey team officially opens the renovated Alfond Arena by hosting Saint Anselm, with the Fan Festival to begin following the conclusion of the women's game.

GAME 1 | Holy Cross at #6/8 Maine
Friday, Oct. 10, 2025 | 7:00 P.M. 
Alfond Arena | Orono, Maine | ESPN+
 
GAME 2 | Holy Cross at #6/8 Maine
Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025 | 7:00 P.M. 
Alfond Arena | Orono, Maine | ESPN+
 
WHAT'S ON TAP
• The University of Maine men's ice hockey program will embark on its 49th season of varsity play on Friday night when it hosts Holy Cross at Alfond Arena.
• Friday night marks the first meeting between these two teams since October 2003.
• Head coach Ben Barr enters his fifth season behind the bench of the Black Bears.
• Maine is coming off of a 2024-25 season in which it went 24-8-6 and won the sixth Hockey East Tournament title in program history.
 
A WIN ON FRIDAY WOULD. . .
• Bump the Black Bears to 4-1-0 in season-openers under head coach Ben Barr.
• Move Maine to 5-2-0 in the all-time series with Holy Cross.
• Bump Maine to 31-15-3 all-time in the home opener.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs HOLY CROSS
• Maine and Holy Cross have met six previous times, with the Black Bears going 4-2-0 overall and 3-0-0 at Alfond Arena.
• The first-ever meeting came back on Dec. 3, 1977 with Holy Cross earning an 8-3 win in Orono.
• Maine and Holy Cross haven't faced off since October 2003, when Maine picked up a 7-0 win at Alfond Arena.
 
ABOUT HOLY CROSS
• Holy Cross opened up the 2025-26 season this past Saturday, falling on the road to Northeastern, 6-4.
• The Crusaders are coming off of a 2024-25 season that saw them go 24-14-2 overall and 19-5-2 in Atlantic Hockey play to earn the regular season championship … Holy Cross advanced all the way to the conference tournament title game, ultimately falling to Bentley, 6-3.
• Holy Cross returns 20 letterwinners from last year's squad, including Atlantic Hockey Second Team selection Mack Oliphant, Third Team selection Devin Phillips, and All-Rookie Team member Matt Kursonis.
 
WHAT'S BACK FOR THE BLACK BEARS
• The Black Bears return 14 point-getters from last season's team, including three of the top five and seven of the top 10.
• Overall, Maine returns 48 percent of goals, 63 percent of assists and 57 percent of the points from a season ago.
• Maine welcomes back three double-digit goal scorers in Thomas Freel (11), Josh Nadeau (10) and Owen Fowler (10).
• Seven players who had at least 10 assists last year have returned, including Frank Djurasevic who had a team-leading 21 during the 2024-25 season.
• In between the pipes, Albin Boija is back after starting 37 of 38 games and playing 2269:53 of a possible 2351:59 minutes in goal.
 
NEW FACES
• The 2025-26 roster features 13 new student-athletes, with seven forwards, five defensemen and one goaltender joining the fold.
• First-years Luke Coughlin, Will Gerrior, Brock James, Jeremy Langlois, Jaden Lipinski, Miguel Marques, Nick Peluso, Lukas Peterson, Justin Poirier, Loic Usereau and Mathis Rousseau join transfers Max Scott (Brown, NCAA) and Simon Motew (St. Francis Xavier, USports).
 
UP NEXT
• The Black Bears will travel to Quinnipiac next weekend for a pair of games on Friday, Oct. 17 and Saturday Oct. 18 at M&T Bank Arena.