OMAHA, Neb. – No. 8 Western Michigan scored a power play goal with 13.7 seconds remaining in regulation to hand the Omaha hockey team a 4-3 loss on Friday in the series opener at Baxter Arena.
Papillion, Neb. native Ethen Frank netted his second goal of the game to give the Broncos a win after they had surrendered the lead in the third period.
Omaha fell to 7-16-2 overall and 3-11-1-0/1 in the NCHC, keeping it in eighth place. The Broncos improved to 16-8-1 overall and 9-5-1-0/1 in the conference.
Trailing 3-2 entering the third, the Mavericks tied the game at 14:47 when
Travis Kothenbeutel fired a shot just under the crossbar for his second goal of the season.
Omaha pulled
Evan Weninger for an extra attacker and had its best chance when defenseman
Dean Stewart fired a shot just wide of the near post as time wound down.
Weninger finished with 32 saves while WMU's Trevor Gorsuch stopped 27 as the Broncos outshot the Mavericks, 36-30.
The Mavericks led 1-0 after the first period on
Mason Morelli's 15th goal of the year. He fired home a pass from
Fredrik Olofsson at 3:53. Initially, the goal was waved off after
Taylor Ward collided with Gorsuch. But a video review showed that Ward had been pushed into Gorsuch, and the goal stood.
Omaha doubled its lead on a power play early in the second period.
Taylor Ward deflected home a ricochet from
Zach Jordan for his seventh goal of the year at 4:32.
The Broncos would then reel off three straight to take the lead before the intermission. The go-ahead goal came with just .3 seconds remaining when Frank fired home a pass from Hugh McGing.
The season series concludes on Saturday at 7:07 p.m.
GAME NOTES:
- Kothenbeutel's goal was his first since scoring against Arizona State on Nov. 23.
- Olofsson led all UNO scorers with two assists.
- The game was the third straight 4-3 decision played at Baxter Arena. The Mavericks split a series with North Dakota on Jan. 18-19 with each team winning by the same score.
- The Mavericks were 1-for-6 on the power play while the Broncos were 2-for-4.
- Western Michigan finished with a 23-8 advantage in blocked shots.
Three stars: 1. Ethen Frank/WMU – Two goals; 2. Colt Conrad/WMU – Two assists; 3.
Fredrik Olofsson/Omaha – Two assists