This Week
The Omaha hockey team opens its home schedule this weekend when it hosts No. 2/3 Notre Dame of the Big Ten on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 19-20. Friday's game begins at 6:38 p.m., and Saturday's game starts at 7:07 p.m. from Baxter Arena.
The Teams
Omaha is 0-1-1 overall following a tie and a loss at Union in its season-opening series last weekend in Schenectady, N.Y. All time, UNO is 11-19-4 against the Fighting Irish including a mark of 5-8-2 in Omaha. Last season, the Mavericks split a two-game series with Notre Dame in South Bend in October.
Notre Dame, last year's NCAA runner up, is 1-0-1 this season after winning the Icebreaker championship last weekend in Erie, Pa. The Fighting Irish tied Mercyhurst before beating the Lakers in a shootout to advance to the championship where they stopped Providence College. Last season, the Irish were a remarkable 11-2-1 on the road.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks tied and lost in their first trip to Union in almost 11 years. On Friday, they took 2-0 and 3-2 leads but had to settle for a 3-3 tie.
Dean Stewart,
Mason Morelli and
Ryan Galt all scored, the latter two on the power play.
Evan Weninger made 27 saves.
On Saturday, the Mavericks led 2-1 after the first on goals by
Zach Jordan and
Kevin Conley. Union put up three in the second period to take a 4-2 lead. In the third, the Mavericks twice narrowed the gap to one goal thanks to tallies from
Teemu Pulkkinen and Jordan but couldn't draw any closer. Weninger made 26 saves.
The Coaches
Mike Gabinet is in his second season as head coach of the Mavericks, posting a 17-18-3 record last season. The 2004 graduate of Omaha served as an associate head coach during the 2016-17 season before being elevated to the head coach position last season.
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
Paul Jerrard (Lake Superior State, 1987).
Jeff Jackson is in his 14th season as head coach at Notre Dame and his 20th season overall. He is 297-177-55 in South Bend and 479-229-80 all time. The 1978 graduate of Michigan State is assisted by Paul Pooley and Andy Slaggert.
Media
Friday's game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network, the premier television partner of the NCHC. Dan Kelly will call the game, Dave Starman will provide analysis and Shireen Saski will report.
Saturday's game will be carried statewide on NET.
Dave Ahlers will provide the play-by-play, former Maverick David Brisson will have analysis and Ryan Mix will report.
Both games also can be heard live on 1180 The Zone 2. Ahlers will have the play-by-play on Friday with Donny Baarns providing the call on Saturday. Terry Leahy has analysis and Lester St. James reports each night. Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show.
Live video of Saturday's game plus audio and stat links are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next
The Mavericks return to the road for a non-conference series at Arizona State on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 26-27. Both games begin at 9:05 p.m. CT from Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe, Ariz.
