Weekly Release
This Week
The University of Nebraska at Omaha hockey team, ranked sixth and seventh in the most recent polls, returns to the road this week to face the St. Cloud State Huskies on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 12 and 13. Both games begin at 7:07 p.m. CT from SCSU's National Hockey Center. This will be the first meeting between the two schools since the 1998-99 season.
The Teams
The Mavericks begin the week with a record of 7-1-0 overall and a mark of 4-0-0 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, good for a three-way tie for second place with North Dakota and Wisconsin. Both of those teams have played two more games. The Mavericks are just one point behind league-leading Minnesota Duluth which has played two more WCHA games. St. Cloud State comes into the game tied with Colorado College for eighth place in the league with a record of 2-2-0. The Huskies are 4-5-1 overall. UNO is coming off a two-game sweep of Minnesota State while St. Cloud split a pair of games with visiting Bemidji State last weekend, winning the first game, 6-3 before losing the rematch, 3-2 in overtime.
Last Week
The Mavericks swept their first ever WCHA home series, beating Minnesota State 5-1 and 5-2 at Qwest Center Omaha last weekend. On Friday, they built a 3-0 lead after two periods on goals by Bryce Aneloski, Ryan Walters and #Joey Martin#. Johnnie Searfoss put the game out of reach with a pair of powerplay goals in the third period just 29 seconds apart. Joe Schiller ruined #John Faulkner#'s shutout bid with a goal at 12:46, but Faulkner stopped 26 to earn the win. #Rich Purslow# had three assists in the game.
In Saturday's rematch, Andrej Sustr and Zahn Raubenheimer sandwiched goals around one by MSU's Kurt Davis to put UNO up 2-1 after one. Purslow and MSU's Eriah Hayes each scored in the second, but UNO squelched any comeback bid with goals from Searfoss and #Matt Ambroz# in the third. #Terry Broadhurst# chipped in three assists while Faulkner again earned the win with 26 saves.
The Coaches
#Dean Blais# is in his second year as the head coach of the Mavericks. The 1973 graduate of Minnesota has posted a career record of 289-132-39 (.671) and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 27-17-6 (.600) since coming to Omaha. Blais is a two-time Spencer Penrose Memorial Award winner as the Division I coach of the year. He spent 10 years as head coach at North Dakota where he led the Fighting Sioux to national championships in 1997 and 2000. He is assisted by second-year associate head coach Mike Hastings and first-year assistant coach Mike Guentzel.
Bob Motzko is in his sixth year guiding St. Cloud State. The 1987 graduate of SCSU is 109-79-25 all-time at his alma mater, his first stop as a head coach. Last year, he led the Huskies to a record of 24-14-5 and third place in the WCHA with a mark of 15-9-4. He is assisted by Mike Gibbons and Steve Johnson.
Media
UNO hockey can be heard live on the “Voice of UNO Athletics”, KVNO, 90.7 FM. Dave Ahlers will call the play-by-play while Terry Leahy provides analysis for both games this weekend. Coverage begins 37 minutes before game time. Live audio, streaming video through America One and live stats are available at omavs.com.
Up Next For the Mavericks
UNO returns home to host the North Dakota Fighting Sioux on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 19 at 20. Friday's game begins at 7:37 p.m. and Saturday's contest at 7:07 p.m. from Qwest Center Omaha. The Mavericks will return the favor by visiting Grand Forks for games on Jan. 21 and 22. North Dakota is one of three teams the Mavericks will play four times this season.
