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ORONO — How many times did Becca Grisdale and her teammates on the University of Maine women’s soccer team climb to the top of the Alfond Stadium bleachers to catch a glimpse of their soon-to-come pitch?

The top of the football stadium offered the best views of the ongoing construction. It was well worth the leg workout to watch a pile of dirt become a first-class soccer field.

“Once they finally laid the turf, it was insane. I couldn’t believe it was happening,” said Grisdale, a senior defender and one of the Black Bears captains.

Saturday was a day to celebrate the completion of the latest phase in UMaine’s athletic facilities makeover. Along with the soccer field, the renovated Alfond Arena opened. The home of the Black Bears men’s and women’s hockey teams now features a new entryway for fans coming to games, with a new team store and concession stands. For the athletes, there are new locker rooms, meeting rooms, video rooms, training space and team lounges.

Brandon Holt, a senior defenseman and captain with the men’s hockey team, no longer needs to put on a hard hat to see his locker room.

“We’ve been anticipating it for so long. They started working on it a few years ago. It was so worth the wait. Everything was so new and so nice,” he said.

Thanks to a $170 million gift from the Alfond Foundation, as well as numerous other donations from fans and alumni and $7 million from New Balance for the soccer field and track and field complex that’s nearing completion, the makeover at UMaine is more than halfway complete.

Behind the new soccer field is a blue rubberized track surface that’s partially complete, though the track infield is still dirt. Next to that is the field hockey field completed a few years ago. Next to that is the softball field that was the first project completed.

Next on the list is ripping out what’s left of the track that surrounds the football field and moving the field and stands behind the visitor’s sideline to make all the seating tighter to the field. Then, a new basketball arena will go up behind the south end zone, enclosing Alfond Stadium and giving the basketball teams a new home.

For now, the renovated Alfond Arena remains the most visible and highest profile building on campus. The soccer field, though, may be the most significant new facility. Maine’s women’s soccer team is the two-time defending America East conference champion. Not bad for a team that for years played home games on Mahaney Diamond, the school’s baseball field.

Grisdale chose her words carefully. She was grateful her team had a home field, even one it shared with the baseball team. Still, the ball took funny hops. You’d hit a ball long, expecting it to bounce one way, only to see it bounce another. The turf was hard.

The Black Bears practiced for the first time on their new field Saturday morning. Grisdale’s hips didn’t hurt after. Running on Mahaney could be like running on concrete, she said.

“It was,” Grisdale said, pausing, “unique. Honestly, it wasn’t our own field, but it was very special to us. We dealt with what we had and made the best of it. We won back-to-back championships on it. It showed no matter the conditions, our team could get through anything.”

The ball moves smoothly on the new field, said Julia Lossius, a senior forward and captain. Not only that, it’s a symbol of faith from the university to the team, she said. Here’s the field you need and deserve. Represent us well.

“It feels a little awkward to not have your own field, your own place you can go,” Lossius said. “It means everything. For the whole team now, but for everyone who came before us (also). It’s an honor to finally get it. I’m so excited for every UMaine women’s soccer player to step on this field.”

The Black Bears play their first game on their new field at 6 p.m. Thursday against Bryant, their first home conference game of the season. On their own field, for the first time in years.