OMAHA, Neb. - The Omaha Hockey team didn't get a win on the ice Saturday night, but the Mavericks achieved the result they needed.
Miami scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period on its way to a 4-2 victory in the regular-season finale at Baxter Arena.
Coupled with Arizona State's loss to Denver on Saturday, Omaha remained in eighth place in the NCHC standings to clinch a spot in the Frozen Faceoff, which begins Friday. Omaha will play at league champion North Dakota.
Omaha finished with 24 points in the standings, while Arizona State had 22.
In Saturday's game, the teams combined for three goals in a five-minute span as Miami took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
Miami scored a power-play goal six minutes into the game. Then, with 9:48 left in the first period,
Marcus Nguyen scored his team-leading 11th goal on an assist from
Samuel Huo.
The RedHawks responded quickly as 47 seconds after Nguyen's goal, Matteo Giampa — who scored twice for Miami on Friday — ripped a shot past
Simon Latkoczy.
Omaha tied it for a second time with 13:42 left in the second period when Myles Hillman made a move near the boards and beat goalie Matteo Drobac for his fifth goal of the season.
It remained tied until Miami scored with 1:39 left in the second period.
It stayed 3-2 until the final minutes when Omaha pulled goalie
Simon Latkoczy for an extra attacker.
With 1:47 left, Miami scored an empty-net goal from its own end of the ice to secure the victory.
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