ORONO — Nestled among the 3,807 people at Alfond Arena on Sunday for the Maine Black Bears’ home exhibition game against the University of New Brunswick was a small but vocal pack of black-and-white clad hockey fans from the Lewiston/Aubrun area.

And they cheered for UNB.

Specifically, they cheered for a pair of players wearing UNB’s polished black and red uniforms, two former Lewiston Maineiacs — Antoine Houde-Caron and Travis Fullerton.

Both players have carved a niche for themselves in the Canadian university system after successful stints in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, a typical path for many QMJHL grads.

“We do have a lot of guys from the QMJHL,” UNB GM (and former Lewiston GM) Roger Shannon said. “Culligan, MacNeil, Clendenning, Desnoyers, all of those guys were captains on their teams and of course Fullerton, he’s been outstanding.”

Houde-Caron, Shannon said, is a shining example of the kind of player UNB prides itself on finding.

“Houde-Caron would be a perfect example, even though he only played one year in Lewiston for us, I knew he was the kind of player we wanted, and he was a great find for us, not only in Lewiston, for the Maineiacs, but for UNB as well,” Shannon said.

Acknowledging the fans he saw and heard in the stands at Alfond Arena on Sunday, Houde-Caron said his time in Lewiston, though only a year, helped prepare him for this next step.

“It was great in Lewiston. I was really surprised at how nice everyone was to me for the one year I was there,” Houde-Caron said. “I really enjoyed my year there. It helped me grow as a person. I was happy to have asked for a trade to go there.”

Houde-Caron is joining a team this year that has won three national titles in five years, two of them with Fullerton, the former Lewiston keeper who left town abruptly after a minor run-in with police. He resurfaced in Saint John, played well for the Sea Dogs and parlayed his continuing maturation into a scholarship at UNB.

“I enjoyed my time in Lewiston,” Fullerton said. “It didn’t end very well, and there was a learning curve that had to happen, as a person and as a player. I took it as a positive. It was a good opportunity.

“I did a lot of learning in Lewiston, and just took some maturity and some time to develop for me,” Fullerton added. “Everyone develops at a different age.”

Four years later, Fullerton is now wondering where the time went.

“Time flies, man,” he said with a smile. “I came to an unbelievable program with such a winning tradition. I felt comfortable here, the guys have been good and it’s been an unbelievable place to play for a goalie.”

Maine won Sunday’s contest, 7-3. Fullerton watched as fellow keeper Dan LaCosta took the loss, while Houde-Caron skated a regular shift with the Varsity Reds’ top six forwards.

“The results this weekend are not normal for us,” Shannon said. “With missing as many guys from the lineup as we were, that made it tough. We’re back down here next weekend to play UMass and Holy Cross, so that will give us another chance.”

Meanwhile, Shannon, who is also the assistant GM with the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes this season, is already looking ahead to his next few recruiting classes at UNB, too.

“I’d like to be able to get a few more former Maineiacs to come play for us, too,” Shannon admitted. “That was a team loaded with character guys.”