The No. 15 Omaha Mavericks erased a 2-0 deficit tonight before burying the overtime winner to secure a 3-2 victory and a weekend sweep of the Miami RedHawks.
The Mavericks fell behind when Miami scored the game's first goal at 15:56 of the 1
st period. The RedHawks would go on to extend that lead to 2-0, 1:29 into the 2
nd period when they put home a long rebound shot from the point.
The comeback was on when
Jake Pivonka blasted a shorthanded one-timer home with 3:15 remaining in the 2
nd period. The whole play was started by Cam Berg who intercepted a puck in the Omaha slot, took it all the way into the RedHawk zone and then fed Pivonka on the far side who did the rest. After 40 minutes of hockey, the Mavericks trailed Miami 2-1 and were outshooting them 33-23.
With time winding down in regulation, the captain,
Nolan Sullivan took matters into his own hands when he grabbed a loose puck out front of RedHawk cage and perfectly wrapped it around to equalize the contest at 2-2 with 4:01 remaining in regulation. Sullivan's fifth lamp lighter of the season was assisted by Berg and
Brock Bremer and was enough to force overtime in Oxford.
It didn't take long for the Mavericks to net the OT winner as they needed only 18 seconds to get the job done.
Ty Mueller won the draw over to
Jack Randl who moved it back
Jonny Tychonick in the defensive zone. Tychonick left it for Mueller who took it coast-to-coast through a pair of Miami defenders only for his backhand shot to hit the post but be cleaned up by Randl for a tap-in goal.
For the third game in a row, the Mavericks put up 40+ shots on net. They finished with 52 shots on goal. The last time they put up 50+ shots was March 12, 2016 (54) at Denver. Senior netminder
Jake Kucharski earned his eighth win of the season stopping 31 of the 33 Miami shots he faced.
The Mavericks will return home next weekend for a top-15 matchup against the St. Cloud State Huskies. It will no longer be the final home series for the Mavericks this season as they have secured home ice for the opening round of the NCHC Playoffs.