Rams' stars in their formative years included Marina Riva and Lauren Marx, each of whom ranked among the top ten nationally in 2002–03 scoring. Marina Riva won the leading scorer award for the team in the 2002–03 season with 20 goals and 15 assists for a total of 35 points. Forward Heather Scherick became the first in URI's long line of ACHA award winners by earning All-American Honorable Mention that season. The $12 million, 2,500-seat Bradford R. Boss Arena, which finally gave the Rams a top on-campus facility and would prove instrumental to the program's growth in the years that followed, opened in the fall of 2002. Exploding on the scene (2003–2004) Although the Rams showed steady improvement over their first four years, there really wasn't much indication of what would follow in season five: an immediate and decisive ascension into one of the nation's best programs, a status that continues to the present day. Coinciding with this development was the advent of the ECWHL thanks to the efforts of McCann, who also served as the league's first commissioner. Buffalo, Penn State, Massachusetts and Boston University stood as URI's conference rivals in 2003–04. Rhode Island served notice of the shift immediately, taking 15 of the first 16 games on the schedule. Notable among the results were a 4–2 win over NCAA Division I Sacred Heart on October 26, 2003, behind Robin Rosselle, who scored twice and assisted on the other two Rhody tallies. Win 15 of that opening salvo came on January 9, 2004, by a 4–3 score against defending national champion Michigan State. The next week, URI finished second at the UMass White Out Tournament, an invitational packed with powerhouses like the hosting Minutewomen, West Los Angeles College, Colorado and Robert Morris (IL), before thoroughly dominating the schedule's home stretch. Against Buffalo, Penn State, Bates College, UMass and Saint Anselm, the Rams went 9–0–0 and scored 50 times while only surrendering 11 goals. A 2–2 draw with NCAA Division III Holy Cross closed out the regular season. Driving the team's success were a bevy of top players, some familiar, some new. Riva, Marx and Scherick were all still around, as was Jen Wallace, already well on her way to putting together one of the most spectacular careers in team history by that point. Rosselle headlined a stellar group of freshman that also included Alysa Coleman, Karen Hawes and Lynn