OMAHA, Neb. – Omaha Hockey fell 1-2 to No. 14 Western Michigan in the 2024-25 NCHC opener on Friday night in front of a crowd of 6,683 at Baxter Arena. Junior goaltender
Simon Latkoczy made 48 saves in the game, his second-highest total of the season.
The scoring looked to have started when senior forward
Zach Urdahl got the Mavericks off to a supposed good start, making it 1-0. However, after review, it was determined that Omaha was offsides, and the goal was removed to keep it scoreless.
It did not take long for the Mavericks to find a legitimate 1-0 lead when
Harrison Israels scored his first goal in an Omaha uniform, the team's second shorthanded goal of the season.
Israels took a feed from junior forward
Jacob Slipec, who glided down the ice from the neutral zone, protecting the puck in pursuit of the back of the net. The only Maverick lead occurred at the 12:22 mark of the opening frame.
Slipec was the only assist awarded on the home team's only goal.
Omaha held its lead through the end of the first period and held the Broncos scoreless off 13 shots on goal.
Western Michigan sophomore forward Alex Bump tied the game for his team at 5:44 in the second period.
Finally, the Broncos junior forward Tristan Lemyre scored, took the lead for good 17:29 into the second period and made it 2-1.
Latkoczy was named the third star of the game. The Mavericks will be back in action at 7:07 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 9 against Western Michigan.
Season and single-game for Omaha hockey home games at Baxter Arena are on-sale now at
OMavs.com/Tix.
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