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This Week
The UNO Mavericks conclude 2011 this week with a non-conference series against the Quinnipiac Bobcats of ECAC Hockey. The two schools will meet on Friday, Dec. 30 at 7:37 p.m. and clash again on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 31 at 2:07 p.m. at the CenturyLink Center. The games are the third and fourth meetings all time between the two foes. They are also the last non-confernece games on the schedule for UNO. After playing in the first 10 weekends of the season, UNO is now in a stretch where it plays just six games in seven weeks.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 9-8-3 overall and 7-4-3 in the WCHA, putting them in fourth place with 17 points, one behind third-place Colorado College and two ahead of fifth-place Denver. UNO is 0-2-0 all-time against Quinnipiac as the teams met for the first time ever last season. These will be the first meetings between the two schools in Omaha. The Mavericks are 5-2-1 at home this season.
The Bobcats are 11-6-3 overall and 3-4-3 in ECAC Hockey, good for third place. They have not played since a 3-2 home win against Princeton on Dec. 11. Quinnipiac has won three straight games and is unbeaten in its last five (4-0-1).
Last Time Out
The Mavericks haven't played since Dec. 9 and 10 when they split a pair of games at North Dakota to finish off the first half of the WCHA schedule. On Friday,
Ryan Walters scored at 1:21 of overtime to give the Mavericks a 2-1 win. Matt White, who assisted on Walters' game winner, opened the scoring with a breakaway goal at 13:46 of the second period. UND tied the game when Carter Rowney scored early in the third.
John Faulkner made 24 saves to earn his fifth win of the year.
The next night, the teams squared off in another goaltending duel. UNO's
Ryan Massa and UND's Aaron Dell, who also had played the night before, kept the game scoreless for the first 40 minutes. The Sioux's Danny Kristo broke the deadlock with an unassisted goal just 44 seconds into the third period.
Brock Montpetit had the best chance to tie the game but rang the post with three seconds remaining in regulation. Dell earned the 1-0 win with 26 saves while Massa made 31 stops.
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 312-155-42 (.654) and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 50-40-9 (.550) 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.
Rand Pecknold is in his 18th year as the head coach at Quinnipiac. The 1990 graduate of Connecticut College is 328-222-59 all-time in Hamden. He is assisted by Bill Riga and Reid Cashman.
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 return to WCHA play in two weeks when they host the defending national champions, Minnesota Duluth, on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 13 - 14. Friday's game begins at 6:37 p.m. to accommodate television coverage on the NBC Sports Network. Saturday's game starts at 7:07 p.m. and will air on NET.
