Weekly Release
This Week
The No. 18-ranked UNO Mavericks resume WCHA play when they host the St. Cloud State Huskies in the middle weekend of this six-game homestand. The games are Friday, Feb. 4 at at 7:37 p.m., and Saturday, Feb. 5 at 7:07 p.m. This is the second meeting of the season between the two schedule partners. The Mavericks earned a 3-0 win and a 4-4 tie at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. back on Nov. 12 and 13.
The Teams
The Mavericks earned a split with Alabama-Huntsville last weekend in their final non-conference games of the season. The Mavs have fashioned an overall record of 14-10-2 and a 10-6-2 mark in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, good for fifth place. UNO trails fourth-place Wisconsin by two points and holds two games in hand. The Mavericks are 8-3-1 at home this season with each loss coming by a single goal. St. Cloud State is 11-12-3 this season and 7-9-2 in the WCHA, putting it in a tie for eighth place with Alaska Anchorage. The Huskies are coming off a 3-3 tie and a 6-2 loss at home to Minnesota State last weekend. They have earned a 4-4-0 record on the road this season.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks split their series last weekend with visiting Alabama-Huntsville. The Mavs earned a 4-0 win on Friday, scoring two goals in the second and third periods to win going away. Alex Hudson started the scoring when whipped in the puck during a net-mouth scramble at 14:08. Matt White stretched the lead when he fired home a feed from #Ryan Walters# for a powerplay goal in the last second of the middle stanza. After an apparent goal by the Chargers was waved off early in the third, UNO scored 24 seconds later when Rich Purslow knocked in a pass from Matt Ambroz. #Brock Montpetit# tallied his seventh of the year just 39 seconds later to close the scoring. #John Faulkner# made 20 saves.
The following night, the two teams were scoreless through two periods before UAH got a goal from Mac Roy 58 seconds into the third. Walters tied the game when he converted the rebound of a shot by Montpetit for his eighth goal of the season. UNO had another goal waved off during a late push, and the game went to overtime. In the extra frame, Sebastien Geoffrion ended it with a goal 29 seconds into extra time. Faulkner stoppped 17 in the loss.
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 296-141-41 (.662) and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 33-25-8 (.561) 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 season guiding St. Cloud State. The 1987 graduate of SCSU has a career record of 116-86-29 at his alma mater. He is assisted by assistant coaches 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. Coverage begins 37 minutes before game time each night. Live audio, streaming video and live stats are available at omavs.com.
Up Next For the Mavericks
The Mavericks conclude their six-game home stand next weekend when they host the Wisconsin Badgers on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11 and 12. Friday's game starts at 7:37 p.m. while Saturday's begins at 7:07 p.m. It's the first meeting between the two schools since 2003.
