Box Score Box Score
OMAHA, Neb. – North Dakota snuffed out a third-period comeback attempt by the UNO Mavericks and came away with a 5-2 win in the outdoor game at TD Ameritrade Park on Saturday.
The Mavericks are now 16-12-2 overall and 12-8-2 in the WCHA while North Dakota improved to 16-8-6 and 11-5-6 in league play. The Mavs have now lost three straight, their longest losing streak of the year.
Trailing 4-0 after two periods, the Mavericks began their comeback attempt when
Josh Archibald tipped in a shot from
Michael Young during a power play at 7:39.
Less than 2:30 later, the Mavs were within two.
Dominic Zombo found the puck during a netmouth scramble and fired in his own rebound. It was his 10th goal of the year.
But UND tightened up in its own zone and got a late goal from Danny Kristo to ice the game.
The game started two-and-a-half hours late because the unusually warm day caused poor ice conditions. The start of the second period was also delayed about 15 minutes when a coolant line under the ice was damaged during resurfacing.
North Dakota opened the scoring on the power play at 6:51 of the first period. Jordan Schmaltz fired a shot from the top of the slot that eluded
John Faulkner.
UND made it 2-0 less than two and a half minutes later when Rocco Grimaldi broke in on a partial breakaway. Faulkner stopped his shot, but Nick Mattson followed the play and knocked in his third goal of the year.
The lead quick grew to 3-0 when Mitch MacMillan picked up a loose puck and beat Faulkner on a wrap-around shot at 10:32. The goal ended Faulkner's night. He was replaced by
Dayn Belfour who started Friday's game.
North Dakota padded its lead late in the second period when Corban Knight tipped in a shot by Andrew MacWilliam at 19:15.
Faulkner was saddled with the loss after making two saves on five shots. Belfour finished with 20 saves.
Zane Gothberg made 29 saves in his second strong effort against the Mavericks.
The Mavericks make their longest road trip of the season next weekend when they travel to Alaska Anchorage for games on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15 – 16.
