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This Week
The UNO Mavericks begin a two-week stretch away from home this weekend when they visit the Bemidji State Beavers on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 11 and 12. Game time is 7:37 p.m. Friday and 7:07 p.m. Saturday from the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn. The games mark the first two of four meetings between the schools this season. The Beavers return the favor on Feb. 2 and 3, 2012.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 5-5-0 overall and 4-2-0 in the WCHA, putting them in third place, a point behind Michigan Tech and one point ahead of Minnesota Duluth and Wisconsin. UNO is 5-6-1 all-time against Bemidji State including a mark of 0-5-1 in regular season and WCHA playoff action last year. The Beavers are the only WCHA team that UNO did not beat last season. The Mavericks are 0-2-0 all-time at Bemidji State.
The Beavers are off to a 4-6-0 start overall and a 2-4-0 mark in league play putting them in ninth place. They are coming off a non-conference split at Lake Superior State last weekend. BSU took the first game in overtime, 3-2, before dropping the rematch, 2-1. The Beavers have played just two home games this year.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks split a home series with Colorado College last weekend, winning 7-5 on Friday before losing in the finale, 5-2. Matt White had a pair of goals and two assists while rookie
Jayson Megna added two goals. The Mavs led 3-0 and 4-1, but the Tigers stormed back to take a 5-4 lead before Megna and
Ryan Walters scored 24 seconds apart to give UNO the lead back for good.
Dayn Belfour, in relief of
John Faulkner, made nine saves in the third period to earn the win.
The following night, the Tigers opened the scoring with a pair of powerplay goals just 1:05 apart in the second period.
Andrej Sustr scored four-on-four to close the gap to 2-1 at the intermission.
Ryan Walters scored shorthanded in the third period to tie the game, but CC responded quickly with a goal from Jaden Schwartz to retake the lead for good. The Tigers added two empty-net goals for the final margin.
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 308-152-41 (.656) and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 46-37-8 (.549) 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.
Tom Serratore is in his 11th year guiding the fortunes of Bemidji State. A 1987 graduate of BSU, Serratore is 182-152-38 all-time at his alma mater. Last year, he led the Beavers to the WCHA Final Five and a trip to the semifinals where they lost to Denver, 6-2. He is assisted by Bert Gilling and Ted Belisle.
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 road trip continues next week for the Mavericks when they visit Denver for games on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18 and 19. Game time is 8:37 p.m. CT on Friday and 8:07 p.m. CT on Saturday from Magness Arena. The games are the first two of four between the two schools this season.
