GRAND FORKS, N.D. — (8) Omaha Hockey took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission before top-seeded North Dakota controlled the second period on its way to a 5-3 victory over the Mavericks in the opening quarterfinal game of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff on Friday night.
Omaha scored twice in a 90-second span to grab the 2-1 lead.
Omaha's first goal came with just under nine minutes left in the first period when
Ryan McCleary delivered a pass to an open
Samuel Huo in front of the net, and Huo scored his seventh goal of the season.
Omaha (12-23) then went on a power play. Seconds into the man advantage,
Maxime Pellerin scored on assists from
Luke Woodworth and Jeremy Loranger. It was the ninth goal of the season for Pellerin, Omaha's points leader.
But North Dakota (26-8-1) seized the momentum in the opening minutes of the second period. UND scored three times in the first six minutes to take a 4-2 lead for most of the period. North Dakota, which outshot Omaha 15-4 in the second period, added another goal with 1:37 left in the period.
Omaha cut its deficit to 5-3 with four minutes to go on a goal from Myles Hillman. Pellerin earned an assist on the goal.
The Mavericks continued to put pressure on UND after that as Omaha pulled goalie
Simon Latkoczy with two minutes left for an extra attacker. But Omaha couldn't draw any closer.
Latkoczy finished the night with 23 saves as North Dakota outshot the Mavericks 28-20.
Omaha and North Dakota will play the second game of their playoff series at 6 p.m. CT Saturday. If Omaha wins, a third game will be played Sunday.
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