ORONO — Let them play, Maine coach Tim Whitehead said.

And he did.

“It was a little crowded on the bench,” Whitehead admitted, “but it was worth it.”

The University of Maine didn’t have a roster limit when it played its exhibition game against the University of New Brunswick on Sunday, so Whitehead used the opportunity to give all of the healthy players on his roster a chance to suit up for a game. He dressed 15 forwards, eight defensemen and three goalies — seven freshmen and six sophomores — in the team’s 7-3 victory over the visiting Varsity Reds.

“To get all seven freshmen in the jersey tonight, at home, against a strong opponent was a very good experience,” Whitehead said. “It gets some of the nerves out.”

The Black Bears will be more reliant than usual on a host of underclassmen this season as they try to return to the NCAA tourney for the first time since 2007, the longest stretch the team has missed the tournament since its first made the field in 1987.

“”Everyone knows it’s been that four years, and everyone’s itching to get to the tournament,” senior assistant captain Spencer Abbott said.

And, as with most teams looking to climb the standings, Whitehead has started looking at this year’s squad from the net outward.

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that was our weakness last year,” Whitehead said. “I think those two guys (Martin Ouellette and Dan Sullivan) are going to surprise a lot of people. They’re in tremendous physical condition, and they’re a lot more prepared. They were in a tough spot last year, and the year before we had goaltending issues as well … It’s been several years since we’ve had stability at that position.”

Both keepers looked sharp against New Brunswick, though Ouellette looked particularly on point, stopping 15 of 16 shots after taking over for Sullivan at the game’s midpoint.

On the other end, in the goal-scoring department, Maine is missing three key contributors from a year ago, including former Hobey Baker Award finalist Gustav Nyquist. But the team’s top trip of Abbott, Brian Flynn and Joey Diamond proved that they, too, can put up some numbers Sunday. The three combined for four goals and five assists, and were causing trouble for UNB all night.

“I thought in the first period especially, that’s where they shined,” Whitehead said. “They had a lot of poise on the shorthanded goal to start, a lot of poise on the power-play goal. I thought it was a nice statement that, hey, we’ve got some good players here. I thought they delivered.”

Players like Lewiston’s Mark Anthoine will see increased roles this season, as well. Anthoine, a sophomore, played 33 games as a freshman last season, and saw time Sunday on the power play, planted in front of the net. He, junior Adam Shemansky and fellow second-year skater Jon Swavely, among others, will see a much larger role this season in the offense.

Sandwiched between the goaltending tandem and the speedsters up front is a group of six returning defenders along with two newcomers to the blue line. Three big pieces are missing from last year’s defensive crew, but the Black Bears are confident they can get things done.

“We have a lot of guys who played a lot of games last year,” junior assistant captain Mike Cornell said. “You can’t downplay too much the losses of guys like Dimmen or Van Dyke or Banwell, but at the same time, we’re confident in our abilities.”

Joining the blue-line group this season is former St. Dominic Academy and Scarborough High School standout Jake Rutt.

After only exhibition game, the Black Bears dive right into the meat of their schedule. Maine opens with a pair of Hockey East games this weekend against Merrimack (Friday) and Northeastern (Sunday) before a pair at North Dakota next weekend.

“With 10 teams in the league now, it’s tough for the league not to give us some October games,” Whitehead said. “We’re fine with that. That’s just the way it it. We feel fortunate to get an exhibition game in to at least get us primed.”