OMAHA, Neb – (RV) Omaha Hockey (16-11-1, 12-5-1 NCHC) earned its third straight sweep on Kemp Ice at Baxter Arena, a 5-2 victory in the finale of two games against Minnesota Duluth (10-15-1, 6-10-0 NCHC) on Saturday night.
The Mavericks won their seventh straight home game, the longest active streak of its kind in Division I. Omaha also won its eighth straight conference contest on home ice, leading all teams in 2024-25.
"Sure, proud of the group," head coach
Mike Gabinet said. "I think they are just continuing to take that responsibility to find ways to improve, and it is fun to watch. It is a fun group to work with, and what they are doing as a team is impressive, and we are continuing to take steps in the right direction."
Junior goaltender
Simon Latkoczy made 50 saves, his fifth game this season with 40 or more saves and his second game with 50 or more saves on the campaign.
Omaha struck gold early, following Friday night's trend as they scored first.
On the power play, junior defenseman
Dylan Gratton found graduate forward
Sam Stange, who glided toward the net and saw graduate forward
Jimmy Glynn in front of the crease.
Glynn did not have the wide-open net he tapped a puck into last night. However, the Lemont, Ill., native had to ram this one in to take a 1-0 lead.
The Mavericks have now scored power play goals in four straight games.
Bulldogs' forward Zam Plante tied things up 23 seconds after Glynn got the inaugural goal of the contest.
178 seconds later, junior forward
Cam Mitchell took a shot in front of the net, but goaltender Adam Gajan made the stop.
It did not matter, as junior defenseman
Jacob Guevin was hanging out in the crease, eagerly awaiting a rebound to record his 47th career point (12G-35A) to tie Gabinet for the 12th most among Omaha defensemen in program history.
Nearly five and a half minutes into the second period, graduate forward
Harrison Israels won a faceoff in the Minnesota Duluth zone, and the puck immediately fell onto graduate forward
Brady Risk's stick.
Risk started centering himself as he carried the puck and stretched to give it to freshman forward
Myles Hilman in the middle of the faceoff circle.
Hilman started to wrap around the cage and released it in front of the net, finding Risk, who buried his second goal of the series inches away from the crease.
13:25 into the final frame, Minnesota Duluth's Adam Kleber was given a five-minute major after review for boarding.
Gratton had the puck from the point and slung it to his right, where Stange took control. Stange then made a beautiful cross-ice pass from the home bench side circle to Risk in the opposing circle.
Risk then sent it into traffic, but Israels put it away in front of Gajan to make it 4-1.
Stange and Risk were not finished, as they used the major penalty's final minute well. Once again, Gratton played in front of the blue line in between the pair. In a perfect triangle, Stange gave it to Gratton, who then sent a one-timer to Risk on his left.
To tally his 100th collegiate point, Risk launched the soft pass to find the back of the net for a second time in the game.
The Medicine Hat, Alberta native, has scored in three straight games and has seven points (4G-3A) in those contests.
Next week, the Mavericks travel to No. 4 Western Michigan in a two-game battle at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich. The game on Friday, Feb. 14, will begin at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT, and Saturday, Feb. 15, will start at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT.
Season and single-game for Omaha hockey home games at Baxter Arena are on sale now at OMavs.com/Tix.
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