OMAHA, Neb. - The Omaha Mavericks travel to North Dakota this week for games on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7-8 at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Friday's game begins at 7:37 p.m., and Saturday's game starts at 7:07 p.m. It's the Mavericks' first trip to Grand Forks, N.D. since December of 2011.
The TeamsThe Mavericks are 10-12-2 overall and 7-5-2-1 in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, putting them in a tie with North Dakota and Denver for second place. The Mavericks are coming off a 5-3 loss and an 8-6 win against St. Cloud State last weekend at home. The Mavs are 4-4-2 on the road this year. They trail the all-time series with UND, 4-6-0, a ledger that includes a split of two games in Omaha in November. The Mavericks are 2-2-0 all-time at the Ralph.
North Dakota is 13-8-5 overall and 8-6-0-0 in the NCHC. UND hasn't played since splitting a series at Denver on Jan. 24-25, winning 4-2 the first night before dropping a 3-0 decision the following night. North Dakota is 8-4-1 at home this season and 8-1-1 in its last 10 games.
Last Time OutThe Mavericks earned a split with No. 5 St. Cloud State at home last weekend. On Friday, they spotted the Huskies three separate one-goal leads only to tie the game each time.
Josh Archibald,
Dominic Zombo and
Zahn Raubenheimer each scored goals, Raubenheimer's goal tying the game at 3-3 at the :28 mark of the third. But SCSU got a goal from Kevin Gravel with 3:22 remaining and added an empty net goal to seal the win.
Reed Peters made 25 saves in the loss.
On Saturday, the Mavericks tied the mark for second-most goals scored in a game in an 8-6 win over the Huskies to earn the split. UNO got out to a 2-0 lead on goals by
Justin Parizek and
Brock Montpetit, but SCSU roared back for three straight to lead 3-2 after one.
Nick Seeler tied the game, and
Dominic Zombo put the Mavs back in front in the first half of the second period before SCSU's David Morley knotted the game at 10:10. Zombo found the twine again just 2:36 later to give the Mavs a 5-4 lead at the second intermission. The Huskies tied the game one more time at 3:12 of the third before UNO got goals from Raubenheimer, Zombo and Montpetit to make it 8-5. SCSU got a late goal for the final score. Peters, in relief of starter
Kirk Thompson, got the win with 16 saves in two periods of work.
The CoachesDean Blais is in his fifth year as the head coach of the Mavericks, having led UNO to two 20-win campaigns in that time. The 1973 graduate of Minnesota has posted a record of 346-195-51 (.628) in his career as a head coach and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 84-80-18 (.511).
Blais is a two-time Spencer Penrose Memorial Award winner as the Division I coach of the year and a four-time winner of the WCHA's Coach of the Year Award. He spent 10 years as head coach at North Dakota where he led UND to national championships in 1997 and 2000. He is assisted by coaches
Troy Jutting and
Alex Todd who both have extensive head coaching experience, Jutting at Minnesota State and Todd at Castleton (Vt.) State .
Dave Hakstol is in his 10th season at the helm of North Dakota. The 1996 UND graduate and former Blais assistant is 248-127-40 in his career. He is assisted by Brad Berry and Dane Jackson.
MediaBoth games can be heard live on 1180 The Zone 2.
Dave Ahlers will have the play-by-play, and Terry Leahy will handle the analysis both nights. Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show. Streaming audio, video and live stats are available at OMavs.com.
Up Next For the MavericksThe Mavericks return home to host Denver on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 14-15. Friday's game begins at 7:37 p.m., and Saturday's tilt starts at 7:07 p.m. Saturday's game will be televised live statewide on NET1.
