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This Week
The No. 13/14 UNO Mavericks return home for their final games before the Christmas break as they host Minnesota State on Friday, Dec. 14 and Saturday, Dec. 15. The two teams will square off on Friday at 7:37 p.m. and Saturday at 7:07 p.m. from the CenturyLink Center Omaha.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 10-5-1 overall and 6-3-1 in the WCHA, putting them in a tie with North Dakota for fifth place, just a point behind St. Cloud State and Minnesota State who are tied for third. The Mavs split a pair of games at St. Cloud State last weekend, winning 6-5 in the opener and losing 2-1 the following night. Omaha trails the all-time series with Minnesota State, 11-14-5, and the series is tied 6-6-3 in Omaha. UNO is 5-2-1 at home this season.
Minnesota State comes to Omaha riding a six-game winning streak. The “Purple Mavericks” are 9-5-2 this season and 7-5-0 in WCHA play. They beat Alaska Anchorage 3-1 and 3-0 last weekend to end a four-game home stand. MSU is 3-3-1 on the road this season.
Last Time Out
Ryan Walters scored the second of two goals early in the third period, and the Mavericks hung on for a 6-5 win over St. Cloud State last Friday in St. Cloud, Minn.
Brent Gwidt, Walters and Matt White helped the Mavs to a 3-2 lead after one.
Bryce Aneloski and
Dominic Zombo then sandwiched goals around one for SCSU to lead 5-3 after two. David Morley completed a hat trick with two goals in the third, forcing the Mavs to hang on.
John Faulkner made 29 saves to earn the victory.
On Saturday, Nick Jensen gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the first only to see White tie the game for UNO in the last minute of the period. Jonny Brodzinski scored midway through the third for SCSU after the Mavericks had two goals dissallowed, and the Huskies held on for the 2-1 win. Anthony Stolarz took the loss with 26 saves.
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 327-170-46 (.645) and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 65-55-15 (.537).
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.
Mike Hastings is in his first year at Minnesota State. The 1993 graduate of St. Cloud State and former UNO associate head coach (2009-12) is 9-5-2 in his career. He is assisted by Darren Blue and Todd Knott.
Media
Friday's game of this series will air live, statewide on NET 1 and NET HD, Nebraska Public Television.
Dave Ahlers will call the play-by-play, and former Maverick standout David Brisson will provide analysis. Both games of this weekend's series also can be heard live on 1180 The Zone 2. 1620 The Zone host Gary Sharp provides play-by-play on Friday, and Ahlers will have the call on Saturday. Terry Leahy will provide analysis for both games. Coverage begins with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show 30 minutes before game time. Streaming audio, video and live stats are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next For the Mavericks
The Mavericks return to action following the Christmas break at Quinnipiac of ECAC Hockey on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 29 and 30. Both games begin at Noon ET from Hamden, Conn.
