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This Week
The UNO Mavericks play their final road games of the regular season this weekend when they visit the No. 14/15 Colorado College Tigers for games on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 17 and 18. Friday's game begins at 9:07 p.m. CT, and Saturday's game starts at 8:07 p.m. CT from Colorado Springs World Arena. These games mark the completion of the four-game season series between the two schools. They split a pair of games in Omaha in November.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 13-11-6 overall and 10-7-5 in the WCHA, putting them in a tie with Colorado College for fourth place with 25 points. They trail third-place Denver by three points and lead sixth-place North Dakota by one point. UNO is 2-2-1 all-time against the Tigers including a mark of 1-1-0 at World Arena. The Mavs are 5-4-3 in WCHA road games this year.
Colorado College is 15-11-2 overall and 12-9-1 in the WCHA. They are coming off 4-2 and 4-1 losses at Bemidji state last weekend. The Tigers are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games and have posted a record of 8-4-2 at home this season.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks tied and won at Michigan Tech last weekend, snapping a four-game winless streak in the process. On Friday, the Mavs spotted the Huskies a 2-0 lead, but
Jayson Megna scored midway through the first to make it 2-1. UNO then opened the second period with goals from
Bryce Aneloski and
Ryan Walters to take a 3-2 lead. MTU's Jordan Baker tied the game later in the period with the teams skating 4-on-4.
John Faulkner, in relief of
Ryan Massa, made 26 saves in the UNO net.
On Saturday, Matt White broke a scoreless tie early in the second period and then tallied again at 5:38 of the third to put UNO out in front, 2-0.
Jayson Megna scored less than two minutes later, and
Michael Young added a shorthanded goal later as UNO pulled away. Massa stopped 35 shots, including 18 in the third period, to earn his first collegiate shutout.
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 316-158-45 (.652) and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 54-43-12 (.550). In 2010-11, he was named the WCHA Coach of the Year, the fourth time he's earned the honor. He recently completed his second stint as the head coach of the U.S. World Junior Team at the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship.
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 UND 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.
Scott Owens is in his 13th season as head coach of his alma mater. The 1979 graduate of CC is 296-180-43 all time in Colorado Springs. He is assisted by Joe Bonnett and Eric Rud.
Media
Friday's game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network. Matt McConnell will have the play-by-play and Dave Starman will offer analysis. Both games this weekend also 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 iHeartRadio channel, “Mavericks Radio.” Streaming audio, video and live stats are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next For the Mavericks
The Mavericks return home to host No. 7 Minnesota on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24 and 25. Friday's game begins at 7:37 p.m., and Saturday's contest starts at 7:07 p.m.
