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This Week
The No. 13/14 Omaha Mavericks hook up with rivalry partner Bemidji State for a two-game series at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn. The two teams will square off on Friday, Jan. 25 at 7:37 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 26 at 7:07 p.m.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 13-9-2 overall and 9-5-2 in the WCHA, putting them in a three-way tie with Denver and North Dakota for third place, two points behind leaders Minnesota and St. Cloud State. The Mavs are coming off a 7-4 loss and 3-3 tie at Denver on Jan. 11 and 12. Omaha trails the all-time series with Bemidji State, 6-8-4 including a mark of 1-2-1 in Bemidji. The Mavericks tied the Beavers, 3-3, before losing 3-2 the following night when the two teams met in Omaha in October. The Mavericks are 5-6-1 away from home this season and 4-5-1 in their last 10 games.
The Beavers are coming off a 4-0 loss and a 4-4 tie at Michigan Tech last weekend. So far this season, BSU has posted a record of 5-12-5 overall and 4-8-4 in the WCHA, good for a tie with Michigan Tech for 10th place. The Beavers are 3-4-3 at home this season and 2-5-3 in their last 10 games.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks last played on Jan. 11 and 12 at Denver. In the opener of the series, UNO fell behind 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 but battled back in the third period to tie the game at four before the Pioneers pulled away with three late goals for a 7-4 win.
Josh Archibald,
Andrej Sustr (power play),
Brent Gwidt (shorthanded) and
Ryan Walters all tallied for Mavs while Matt White had a pair of assists.
John Faulkner made 15 saves in the loss as UNO outshot DU, 42-22.
On Saturday, the Mavericks spotted the Pioneers three one-goal leads only to tie the game each time. White scored on a delayed penalty with 20 seconds remaining in the first period to tie the game at one. In the second, Archibald scored an unassisted goal just 1:05 after the Pioneers had retaken the lead and later,
Ryan Walters converted a turnover into his team-leading 15th goal to tie the game at three after two periods. The Mavericks outshot DU 26-11 through the third period and overtime but could not net the winner. Faulkner had 33 sometimes dazzling saves while Denver's Juho Olkinuora made a season-high 43 saves and finished the weekend with 81 stops in the series.
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 330-174-47 (.642) and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 68-59-16 (.531).
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.
Tom Serratore is in his 12th season as head coach of Bemidji State. The 1987 graduate of BSU is 200-176-46 all-time at his alma mater. He is assisted by Bert Gilling and Ted Belisle.
Media
Both games can be heard live on 1180 The Zone 2. This week, Greg Harrington will have the play-by-play, and Terry Leahy will have 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 are home to host Michigan Tech in the second half of their home-and-home series on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 1-2. Friday's game starts at 7:37 p.m., and Saturday's game begins at 7:07 p.m.
