This Week
The Omaha hockey team plays its first home series of the season, hosting Arizona State on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 20-21. Both games begin at 7:07 p.m. from Baxter Arena.
The Teams
Omaha is 1-1-0 this season following a season-opening split at UMass Lowell last weekend. UNO was 6-10-2 at home last season, including a record of 3-2-1 in non-conference games. All time, UNO is 2-0-0 against Arizona State, having swept the Sun Devils during their first season of play in 2015-16.
Arizona State is coming off a pair of losses at Air Force last weekend, putting it at 1-3-0 for the year. The Sun Devils lost 4-3 and 3-2 and have now dropped three straight. This is the middle series of three straight on the road for ASU which is 0-2-0 on the road so far.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks split a pair of games at then No. 12 UMass Lowell last weekend in Lowell, Mass. On Friday, UNO built a 4-0 lead and went on to win, 4-2.
Joel Messner had two goals and an assist while
Tyler Vesel added a goal and an assist.
Evan Weninger made 29 saves in the victory.
On Saturday, the River Hawks got out to a 3-0 lead only to see the Mavericks narrow the advantage on goals by
Mason Morelli and
Steven Spinner. UML scored two more goals in the third, one into an empty net, for the final score. Weninger made 21 saves.
The Coaches
Mike Gabinet is in his first season as head coach of the Mavericks, posting a 1-1-0 record. The 2004 graduate of Omaha served as an associate head coach under
Dean Blais last season and was elevated to the head coaches' position following Blais' departure after eight years at the helm.
Gabinet returned to his alma mater after four seasons at NAIT in Edmonton, Alberta, the last as its head coach. That season, he led the Ooks to a 36-0-0 record and the ACAC Championship. He was named the conference Coach of the Year and became the first rookie head coach in Canadian college hockey to guide his team to an undefeated record.
Gabinet, a standout defenseman for the Mavericks from 2000-04, is assisted by
Dave Noel-Bernier (Omaha, 2001) and
Peter Mannino (Denver, 2008).
Greg Powers is in his third season as the head coach of Arizona State. The 1999 graduate of ASU is 16-44-5 all time at his alma mater. He is assisted by Alex Hicks and Mike Field.
Media
The games can be seen live on NCHC.tv and heard on 1180 The Zone 2.
Dave Ahlers will handle the play by play, Terry Leahy provides analysis and Lester St. James reports. Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show. Video, audio and stat links can be found at OMavs.com.
Up Next
The Mavericks will play three straight series on the road beginning at Notre Dame on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 26-27. Both games start at 6:35 p.m. CT from Compton Family Ice Arena in Notre Dame, Ind.
