GRAND FORKS, N.D. – (RV) Omaha Hockey (17-15-1, 13-9-1 NCHC) lost the first game of two 1-3 to No. 18 North Dakota (19-13-2, 14-8-1 NCHC) despite outshooting the home team 28-26 on Friday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
In rare fashion, neither team was penalized. The game saw no power plays.
North Dakota opened the scoring 14:08 into the first period when forward Carter Wilkie got one past junior goaltender Simon Latkoczy.
The game saw no scoring for nearly 24 minutes as Fighting Hawks' forward Sacha Boisvert extended their lead 2-0 18:12 into the middle frame.
Omaha finally broke through when freshman Myles Hilman got his stick on a North Dakota-possessed puck in the home team's zone.
In breakaway fashion, Hilman then buried one behind goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter to bring the Mavericks within one goal.
Omaha pulled Latkoczy late in the third period and made a push as it put rubber on the net but could not get another one through to tie things up.
With 0.5 seconds remaining, forward Dylan James hit the empty Mavericks' net and put a bow on the game as Omaha now trailed 1-3 with less than one second.
Omaha plays in its final regular season game when it again takes on North Dakota at Ralph Engelstad Arena on Saturday at 6:07 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on NCHC.tv.
Connect with Omaha Hockey on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram (@OmahaHKY) and Facebook.
