After over 30 years on Babcock Street, the Boston University women’s ice hockey program has finally gotten its chance to prove it can play with the top dogs.

The women’s ice hockey club will officially become a varsity team during the 2005-2006 season with Brian Durocher – the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator of the men’s hockey team – serving as its head coach effective July 1, Jack Parker, BU’s executive director of athletics, announced Thursday.

Like their male counterparts, the Terriers will join Hockey East and play a full Division I schedule. Accompanying them in the conference are the University of New Hampshire, the University of Maine, Boston College, Providence College, the University of Connecticut, fellow newcomer the University of Vermont and Northeastern University

The women’s ice hockey club traces back to 1973 and has played in the American Collegiate Hockey Association, where during the 2001-2002 season it advanced to the national tournament. The Terriers, however, have gotten their share of Division I action. BU has played in the city’s Beanpot Tournament over the last five years against some of the nation’s top teams in Harvard University, BC and Northeastern.

“I am really excited about this challenge,” Durocher said Thursday, according to the BU athletics website. “I will be able to build a program from scratch.”