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This Week
The UNO Mavericks begin a four-game home stand to close the regular season when they host No. 5/6 Minnesota on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24-25. The league-leading Gophers are in Omaha for the first time since October of 2003. This will be the first time the two schools have faced off in WCHA action in Omaha.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 14-12-6 overall and 11-8-5 in the WCHA, putting them in a fourth-place tie with Colorado College and North Dakota with 27 points. They trail third-place Denver by three points and lead seventh-place Michigan Tech by three points. UNO is 2-1-0 all-time against the Gophers but are 0-1-0 against Minnesota at home. The Mavs are 7-4-3 at home this year and 4-4-2 in their last 10 games.
Minnesota is 21-11-1 overall and lead the WCHA with a record of 17-7-0. The Gophers are coming off a sweep of visiting Bemidji State last weekend, winning 3-0 and 4-1. Minnesota is 7-6-1 on the road this year and 6-4-0 in their last 10.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks split their final road series of the regular season, losing to Colorado College, 4-3, on Friday before bouncing back for a 5-3 win on Saturday. In the first game, CC led 2-0 after the first period but in the second,
Johnnie Searfoss and Matt White sandwiched powerplay goals around a powerplay marker by CC's Nick Dineen, to leave UNO down 3-2 after two.
Matt Smith scored his first goal of the season just 1:57 into the third to tie the game, but the Tigers' Jaden Schwartz scored 50 seconds later to make it 4-3.
Dominic Zombo looked to have scored the tying goal with less than three minutes to go in the third, but the goal was disallowed following a video review.
Ryan Massa made 28 saves in the loss.
The next night, Zombo would not be denied, scoring his first career goal to put UNO up 1-0 after one. The Tigers scored three straight in the second period to lead 3-1, but the Mavericks got one back when
Bryce Aneloski scored with six seconds left in the stanza. Early in the third,
Ryan Walters scored shorthanded to tie it and added the game winner less than five minutes later.
Jayson Megna scored an empty netter with 40 seconds remaining. Massa, in relief of
John Faulkner, stopped 15 shots in the third for the win.
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 317-159-45 (.652) and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 55-44-12 (.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.
Don Lucia is in his 13th season at Minnesota, posting a record of 311-170-54 in that time. The 1981 graduate of Notre Dame is 590-325-83 in 25 years of college coaching. He is assisted by former UNO assistant Mike Guentzel and Grant Potulny.
Media
Both games this weekend 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. The game also will be televised in Minnesota on Fox Sports North.
Up Next For the Mavericks
The Mavericks finish the regular season when they host No. 9/10 Denver on Friday and Saturday, March 2 and 3. Friday's game begins at 6:37 p.m., and Saturday's contest starts at 7:07 p.m.
