Kyle Williams remembers when he was growing up that the place to be was Alfond Arena, watching the University of Maine hockey team.

“Went to a lot of games when I was younger,” Williams said. “That made it a pretty easy decision.”

The choice Williams made was to accept a scholarship with Maine. Williams, 20, of Bowdoinham, gave a verbal commitment to the Black Bears last week and will be able to sign his letter-of-intent this spring. He’ll attend Maine in the fall.

He was also considering UMass-Lowell.

Williams, 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, is considered a steady defenseman with solid puck-handling skills. He had three goals and 10 assists in 36 games with the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs last season, and has four goals and eight assists through 28 games this year.

“Kyle is a very smooth skating defender who has tremendous poise and is a good decision maker,” Junior Monarchs Coach Sean Tremblay said. “He is a salt-of-the-earth person who will represent the university well both on and off the ice.”

Williams began playing hockey in the Midcoast Youth Hockey league in Brunswick when he was five. He played his first two years of high school hockey at Mt. Ararat, then transferred to North Yarmouth Academy for two years before joining the Junior Monarchs.

Maine already has eight players from the Junior Monarchs, including freshman defenseman Jacob Rutt of Scarborough.

According to the Junior Monarchs, two other players have committed to Maine, although it is not known when forwards Cam Brown, 18, and Brian Morgan, 17, will join the Black Bears.

WHEN MAINE lost a 5-1 rout to Boston University last month, the Black Bears called it your typical wake-up call and went on to win four straight games against struggling opponents.

After Maine’s 6-2 loss to Merrimack on Friday, Maine came back with a 2-2 tie against the Warriors on Saturday.

“We didn’t bring it (Friday) night. We were soft. We let them dictate the place,” Maine senior Spencer Abbott said. “We changed our style of play (Saturday) and were a little more aggressive.”

Maine better stay aggressive, with four upcoming games against the top two teams in Hockey East – home this weekend against Boston College and at Boston University the following week.

If the Black Bears want home ice in the Hockey East quarterfinals (top-four finish in the league standings), they must fare well the rest of the month.

Maine (7-7-2 in the league) is currently in fourth place, but that spot is tenuous at best. The Black Bears have 16 points, one ahead of Providence and two ahead of UMass-Lowell. But Maine has played three more league games than the Friars and four more than the River Hawks.

Friday’s game against BC is at 7 p.m., and Saturday’s contest is at 4 p.m. to accommodate NESN, which is televising the game.

THE MAINE MEN’S basketball team was featured in this space last week after starting America East play with two wins. The Black Bears (8-8, 2-3) promptly went on to lose their next three games, at home against Boston University, at Albany, and Monday night at Vermont.

The Black Bears return to Orono for a Thursday night game against Hartford in Memorial Gymnasium.

IN DIVISION III women’s basketball, sophomore guard Lauren Rousseau of Biddeford got her first start for the University of New England, since transferring from Southern Maine. She scored 21 to lead the Nor’easters (9-3, 4-1 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference) to a 65-35 romp over Nichols on Saturday.

USM (11-4, 3-2 in Little East) lost at first-place Rhode Island College 74-50 last week. The Huskies are at UMass-Boston today, then welcome pesky Eastern Connecticut State at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Warriors (6-8, 2-3) have struggled since beating USM 75-57 last month.

Bowdoin (10-4, 2-1 in NESCAC) was upset at Bates 69-53 Saturday, and now welcomes the top-ranked team in Division III, Amherst (14-0, 3-0), at 6 p.m. Friday.

Saint Joseph’s (9-5, 3-0 in the GNAC) has won five straight after Monday night’s 70-54 victory over Mount Ida.

USM TRACK & FIELD sophomore John White, of Westbrook and Cheverus High, broke the school record in the shot put with an effort of 48 feet (14.63 meters).

 

Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at:

kthomas@pressherald.com

Twitter: KevinThomasPPH

 

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