The University of Nebraska at Omaha returns to the Civic Auditorium this weekend, Feb. 20-21, to wrap up its 2008-09 conference schedule by taking on the second-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a two-game Central Collegiate Hockey Association Series.
Both games are set for 7:05 p.m. CST face-offs with Friday's game scheduled to be televised by NET1 and CBS College Sports.
Last Week Recap
UNO dropped a pair road games to third-ranked Michigan in Ann Arbor last weekend, Feb. 13-14. The Mavericks scored three goals Friday, the most they scored in a single contest since a 4-3 win over Northern Michigan back on Jan. 9. The Mavs also gave up a season-high eight goals to the Wolverines on Friday and four more in a 4-2 setback at Yost on Saturday. Notre Dame is coming of a weekend sweep of Northern Michigan in South Bend where they scored a combined fourteen goals in two games.
The Records
Notre Dame comes into this series 9-2-1 on the new year and 23-5-3 overall, while UNO is marred in a program-worst eleven-game winless streak and can claim just one win since the calander rolled over to 2009 (1-8-4). The Mavericks last win came back on Jan. 9, a 4-3 win at home over Northern Michigan. Since then however, the Mavs are winless in their last five at home, tying a school record for the longest such streak. UNO's conference mark of 8-11-7-3 places them in sixth place in the standings while Notre Dame sits atop the conference at 17-4-3-3.
The Series
The Mavericks are just 1-3-1 in their last five against the Irish, splitting a two-game series the last time the two met in Omaha back in November of 2006. UNO trails Notre Dame 9-12-4 in the all-time series and is just a single game behind the Irish when playing in Omaha, 5-6-2. The last time the teams met was a year ago in South Bend with Notre Dame taking both contests, 5-4 and 5-0.
The Rankings
UNO is scoring on average 2.27 goals per game in CCHA play, the eighth best mark in the league, while giving up 2.73 per contest, ranking seventh in that category. The Maverick penalty kill ranks ninth best in the conference, successfully killing off 80.8 percent of opposing power-play chances. The Mavs' power-play unit continues to thrive, ranking fourth in the league by converting on 22 of 145 opportunities, or 15.2 percent.
The Coaches
Nebraska-Omaha's Mike Kemp, the only coach in the program's history, is in his 12th season at the helm of the Maverick hockey program. A native of Duluth, Minn. and 1975 graduate of Gustavus Adolphus, Kemp brings a career mark of 192-219-56 into the 2008-09 season. He has amassed a record of 109-125-44 in CCHA play. Notre Dame's Jeff Jackson is in just his fourth season behind the Irish's bench. In that span, Notre Dame has won the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's (CCHA) regular season and tournament titles in 2006-07 and made its first-ever NCAA Frozen Four and national championship game appearance in 2007-08. Over the past two years alone, the Irish have combined to win 59 games, tied for the most victories during that period with fellow CCHA team Michigan.
Coming Up
The Mavericks will put the finishing touches on their 2008-09 regular season Tuesday, Feb. 24, at the Qwest Center Omaha as they welcome Minnesota State Mankato to town. The game is set for a 7:05 p.m. face-off and can be heard live on 1290 AM KKAR with Greg Harrington calling the action and Terry Leahy providing color commentary.
