The University of Maine is planning a bus trip Thursday and Friday, March 14 and 15, to watch the Black Bear men’s ice hockey team take on UMass-Lowell in the Hockey East Quarterfinals. Tickets are $85 and include transportation and admission to both games. A hotel discount is also available for bus trip participants. The bus will leave Orono late Thursday morning and head back after Friday night’s game. Call 207.581.4849, or email your name, phone number and number of people in your group to GoBlackBears@yahoo.com by 4 p.m. Tuesday if you would like to attend.

Head football coach Jack Cosgrove has agreed to a new three-year contract that will keep him at the helm of the Black Bears through June 2016, according to University of Maine Director of Athletics Steve Abbott.

“I am pleased to announce that we have signed Jack Cosgrove to lead our football program for another three seasons,” says Abbott. “Jack has done a terrific job as the leader of the Black Bear football team. He thrives on the intense competition and rivalries in the Colonial Athletic Association, and is committed to continuing to build upon the team’s success.”

Cosgrove, who just completed his 20th season leading the Black Bears, is a 1978 Maine graduate and All-Conference quarterback. He holds the program record with 111 wins. His 76 CAA wins put him fifth in conference history.

“I am especially pleased that we have finalized the contract for Coach Cos,” says UMaine President Paul W. Ferguson. “We have been enjoying a productive conversation with Jack over the last several months following the season’s end, both reflecting on his successful decades of service, but also on a vision for the future of Black Bear Football. I look forward to continuing our close friendship and partnership with him.”

Cosgrove has led the team to four NCAA playoffs (2001, 2002, 2008, 2011), including advancing to the NCAA Final Eight on three occasions (2001, 2002, 2011) and two conference championships (2001, 2002).

Cosgrove’s teams have produced 21 All-America selections and 129 All-Conference honors in the toughest conference in the Football Championship Subdivision. In the classroom, the Black Bears have garnered 26 Academic All-CAA honors from 2009-11, including 13 in 2011.

“In addition to being a first-rate football coach, Jack has been a great mentor and teacher for a whole generation of Maine football players,” Abbott says. “Coach Cosgrove firmly believes in the importance of the academic and personal development of his athletes, and he has made that a priority for more than 20 years. I am delighted that he will continue to guide this program in the future.”

Cosgrove has earned several coaching accolades, including being named the 1996 and 2001 Atlantic-10 Coach of the Year, the 2001 American Football Monthly I-AA National Coach of the Year and the 2011 New England Football Writers FCS Division I Coach of the Year.

“The Cosgrove family is grateful for this opportunity to continue to serve the state of Maine and the University of Maine and its Black Bear Football Program,” Cosgrove says. “We look forward to facing — and embracing — the challenge of providing a quality academic and athletic experience for the young men in our program. We are already hard at work preparing, through our recruiting and training of our current football team, for the challenge of CAA football and our 2013 schedule.”