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This Week
The 14th-ranked UNO Mavericks return to the NCAA playoffs for the first time in five years when they face the Michigan Wolverines on Friday, March 25 in the first game of the 2011 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey West Regional. The game will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. This is the first NCAA Playoff meeting between the two schools.
The Teams
The Mavericks will be making just their second NCAA appearance this week. They are currently 21-15-2 overall and finished third in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with a record of 17-9-2. They were eliminated by Bemidji State in the first round of the WCHA playoffs on March 12. UNO has not played a neutral site game this season. The Wolverines are 26-10-4 overall and finished first in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association during the regular season with a mark of 20-7-1. Michigan finished the CCHA playoffs in third place following a 4-2 win over Notre Dame on March 19. The Wolverines are 3-2-0 in neutral site games this season.
Mavericks vs. Michigan in 2010-11
The Mavericks and Wolverines once shared the CCHA but although UNO has moved to the WCHA, the two teams faced off again this season in non-conference action. Back in October, the Mavericks split a pair of games at Yost Ice Arena, beating the Wolverines, 4-2, on Friday night before losing 6-1 on Saturday night.
In the opener, the Mavs raced out to a 4-0 lead on a first-period goal by #Ryan Walters and second-period goals by Terry Broadhurst#, #Brock Montpetit and Matt White#. The Wolverines trimmed the lead to two with goals 59 seconds apart from Kevin Lynch and David Wohlberg but could get no closer. #John Faulkner# made 34 saves in the win.
The next night, the Wolverines started quickly with a goal from Wohlberg just eight seconds into the game. Carl Hagelin had one goal and Scooter Vaughn had two in the second period to put UM up 4-0 before UNO got a tally from Alex Hudson to make it 4-1 after two. The Wolverines tacked on two more in the third for the final score. Faulkner made 15 saves in almost 24 minutes of action and took the loss. #Fredrik Bergman# made his collegiate debut and allowed three goals on 17 shots in relief.
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 303-146-41 (.660) and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 41-31-8 (.563) since coming to Omaha. He was recently named the WCHA Coach of the Year, the fourth time he's earned the honor. He also was named as the head coach of the 2012 U.S. World Junior Team on March 18.
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.
Red Berenson is in his 27th season as the head coach of Michigan. The 1962 graduate of UM is 725-338-73 in his career. He has twice led the Wolverines to the NCAA Championship - 1996 and 1998. He is assisted by Mel Pearson and Billy Powers.
Media
The game will be carried live on Cox Channel 2 which will have the ESPN-produced broadcast of the game. Ben Holden and Sean Ritchlin will have the call. The game 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 will provide analysis. Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time. Live audio, video and live stats are available at omavs.com.
Up Next For the Mavericks
If the Mavericks win their game with Michigan, they will play the winner of the Boston College/Colorado College game from the other half of the regional. That game will be on Saturday, March 26 at 8 p.m. The winner of Saturday's game advances to the NCAA Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn.
