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This Week
The UNO Mavericks open their WCHA schedule this weekend when they host the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 21 and 22 at CenturyLink Center Omaha. Friday's game begins at 7:37 p.m., and Saturday's contest begins at 7:07 p.m.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 1-3-0 following an appearance last week at the Brice Alaska Goal Rush. In that tournament, they played Alaska Anchorage in a non-conference game. UNO is 1-2-1 all-time against the Seawolves. This will be the first ever meeting between the two teams in Omaha.
Alaska Anchorage is 3-0-1 to begin the week. The Seawolves are coming off yet another tournament win. After winning their own Kendall Hockey Classic to begin the regular season, they took home the trophy from the Alaska Goal Rush. This is the team's best start since the 2008-09 campaign when it also started 3-0-1.
Last Time Out
UNO dropped both games at the Brice Alaska Goal Rush last weekend, losing to Anchorage, 3-0, and losing the second game to Alaska, 4-1.
In the tournament opener, the Seawolves got three goals in a span of 5:41 in the second period to seize control of a defensive battle. Mark Pustin scored on a long wrist shot at 9:43, Quinn Sproule beat a screened
John Faulkner at 14:44, and Matt Bailey lifted home a sharp-angled shot just 40 seconds later to put UAA in command. Rob Gunderson stopped all 23 shots he faced for the shutout. Faulkner suffered the loss with 14 saves while
Ryan Massa stopped all 14 shots he faced in relief duty, his first collegiate action.
The following night against Alaska, Colton Beck got a goal at 3:02 of the first period for the Nanooks. UAF's Nik Yaremchuk scored shorthanded less than three minutes into the second period to put his team up 2-0 after two. Nolan Youngmun made it 3-0 halfway through the third period before
Terry Broadhurst scored during a power play to get UNO on the board. Beck tallied less than a minute later to close the scoring. Scott Greenham made 31 saves to get the win for Alaska while Massa, in his first collegiate start, turned aside 25 shots.
The Coaches
Dean Blais is in his third year as the head coach of the Mavericks, having led UNO to back-to-back 20-win campaigns. The 1973 graduate of Minnesota has posted a career record of 304-150-41 (.656) and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 42-35-8 (.541) since coming to Omaha. In 2010-11, he was named the WCHA Coach of the Year, the fourth time he's earned the honor. He will serve as the head coach of the 2012 U.S. World Junior Team in December.
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 third-year associate head coach Mike Hastings and first-year assistant coach Brian Renfrew who joins the UNO staff after eight seasons at Michigan State.
Dave Shyiak is in his seventh season as the head coach at Alaska Anchorage. The 1993 Northern Michigan grad is 70-127-25 behind the Seawolves bench. He is assisted by Campbell Blair and T.J. Jindra.
Media
Both UNO games this weekend can be heard live on 96.1 The Brew.
Dave Ahlers will call the play-by-play while Terry Leahy will provide analysis. Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time online at UNO's IHeart Radio channel, “Mavericks Radio.”
Streaming audio,
video and
live stats are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next For the Mavericks
The Mavericks are on the road in Madison, Wis. for a two-game set with the Wisconsin Badgers. The two schools will face off on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28 and 29. Both games begin at 7:07 p.m. from the Kohl Center.
