Weekly Release
Live Audio
Live Video
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This Week
The Mavericks welcome the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs for Homecoming 2012. The two teams will play on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 7:07 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 11 at 2:07 p.m. at the CenturyLink Center Omaha. The games are the first two of four between the two schools. Omaha will visit UMD on March 8 and 9, 2013.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 4-3-1 overall and 2-1-1 in the WCHA, putting them in third place. They are coming off a sweep at Michigan Tech last weekend, wining 2-1 and 5-3. UNO trails the all-time series with Minnesota Duluth, 3-6-0 including a mark of 2-3-0 in Omaha.
Minnesota Duluth is 2-3-1 overall this season and 0-1-1 in the WCHA, tied with Alaska Anchorage for 11th place. The Bulldogs have not played since posting a 2-0 loss and a 2-2 tie with visiting Wisconsin on Oct. 26 and 27.
Last Time Out
Omaha earned a sweep last weekend, its first since October of 2011, beating Michigan Tech twice in Houghton, Mich.
On Friday, Zahn Raubeheimer scored at 5:38 of the second period to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead. Tech tied the game on a tally by Tanner Kero at 15:30 of the middle stanza, but Raubenheimer had more heroics later. He scored shorthanded with 1:10 to play in the third to deliver the 2-1 win.
John Faulkner stopped 21 shots to get the win while MTU's Kevin Genoe turned aside 26 in the loss.
The following night, the Huskies led 1-0 after one before Raubenheimer and
Josh Archibald scored goals three and a half minutes apart to put the Mavs in front. MTU retied the game before
Ryan Walters scored on the power play, and Raubenheimer got his fourth of the weekend even strength to put the Mavs up 4-2 after two. Archibald scored into an empty net in the third period before Tech tacked on a late powerplay goal for the 5-3 final score. Faulkner blunted 24 shots to earn the win while Pheonix Copley made 23 saves in two periods of work to get the loss. Genoe stopped all 15 shots he faced in the third.
The Coaches
Dean Blais is in his fourth year as the head coach of the Mavericks, having led UNO to two 20-win campaigns in that time. The 1973 graduate of Minnesota has posted a career record of 321-168-46 (.643) and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 59-53-15 (.524).
Blais is a two-time Spencer Penrose Memorial Award winner as the Division I coach of the year and a four-time winner of the WCHA's Coach of the Year Award. He spent 10 years as head coach at North Dakota where he led UND to national championships in 1997 and 2000.
He is assisted by first-year assistant coaches
Steve Johnson and Troy Jutting who both have extensive coaching experience in the WCHA, Johnson as an assistant at St. Cloud State and Jutting as the head coach and an assistant at Minnesota State.
Scott Sandelin is in his 13th season as the head coach of Minnesota Duluth. The 1986 graduate of North Dakota and former Blais assistant is 219-213-59 in his time in Duluth. He is assisted by Jason Herter and Derek Plante.
Media
Both games of this weekend's series can be heard live on 1180 The Zone 2, the new home of Maverick hockey on the radio.
Dave Ahlers will have the play-by-play, and Terry Leahy will provide analysis. Coverage begins with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show 30 minutes before game time. Streaming audio, video through America One and live stats are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next For the Mavericks
The Mavericks will have the following week off before returning to action on Nov. 23 and 24 for a non-conference series with Alabama-Huntsville at the CenturyLink Center.
