By Bridget Brooks
The calendar has rolled over to the final month in 2023, and Omaha is on the road for the third conference series of the season.
Omaha is coming off a sweep of non-conference foe Augustana in its inaugural season. The home-and-home series format was a good one for fans, and a group of approximately 200 fans made the trek up to Sioux Falls for Saturday’s game at the Denny Sanford Premier Center (including 40 people in the MavPuck group).
Omaha won Friday night’s game 2-1 and prevailed Saturday 5-2. The Mavericks are now 8-3-1 overall, and 2-2-0 in the NCHC (good for sixth place in the NCHC, one point behind Colorado College).
Their opponent this weekend, Minnesota Duluth (3-7-3 overall), currently has no conference points. Both teams have played four NCHC games to date.
In the weekly press conference, Coach Mike Gabinet said UMD is better than its record reflects. “Their losses are (to) North Dakota, St. Cloud, and Minnesota, so you know how good they are. They had some early wins and then (faced) a gauntlet of a schedule." He added, “They will be dialed in and ready to go.”
Gabinet noted that with a deep roster, some good Maverick players haven’t been getting much ice time, something that makes his job difficult. “If you don’t sleep, it’s because of lineup decisions.” He noted Charlie Lurie in particular – “(It) was exciting to get his first conference play.” Gabinet added, “Everyone is deserving of play. It’s nice to keep those guys involved. It means there is some good internal competition.”
Special teams play is expected to be a factor this weekend. Minnesota Duluth ranks first in the nation on the power play, while the Mavericks power play finally connected for a goal in the Saturday gave vs. Augustana. “You need special teams to help you put a game away, give you that momentum.”
Graduate student defenseman Dom Vidoli echoed Gabinet’s comments about roster depth. “There's lots of depth from the back end. (There’s) 8 guys that can play. Part of it is being patient and looking for the opportunity,” he said. “When I do get the opportunity, I’m ready to go.”
Vidoli said that Duluth is a “heavy team; they play hard.” He added “They come hard on the forecheck, hard off face-offs.” But, he said, the emphasis will be on what the Mavericks can do, not the Bulldogs. “As long as we stick to our game, we’ll be good. (We need to) stick to our script and play our game.”
He added that having fan support in Sioux Falls was “pretty cool.” He noted the players could hear the cheers. “It was cool to see (the fans) travel; the roads weren’t great. We appreciate that.”
Minnesota Duluth is coming off a bye weekend. Omaha is 15-28-4 all-time against the Bulldogs, with the Mavericks sweeping their last series in Omaha (January 2023).
Series preview articles:
No comments:
Post a Comment