Wrapping Up The Weekend: UMD Series (Jan. 25-26, 2019)

By Connor Willingham

It was a rough weekend for the UNO hockey team (3-10-1-1 in the NCHC). The defending national champion University of Minnesota Duluth, number three in the PairWise, showed why they were primed at another run in the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs dominated possession of the puck both nights, while their defense stymied the Maverick’s offense when they did manage to possess the puck. In the end, UMD won Friday 7-2. A slightly better showing by UNO on Saturday resulted in a 3-1 UMD win. The Mavericks have now lost five of their last six in a brutal schedule that will not let up anytime soon.

Senior goalie Evan Weninger was one of the bright spots for the Mavericks. Over the weekend he faced an unbelievable 95 shots on goal, stopping 86 of them, keeping the Mavericks in the game especially on Saturday night. Captain Mason Morelli added to his conference-leading point total by scoring a goal off an assist by Ryan Jones, his first of two on the weekend, on Friday night.

Review the series with Minnesota Duluth, preview this weekend’s series, and other topics such as season tickets by listening to the Mavpuckcast with Jason & Jon: 

LOOKING AHEAD: The Mavericks will now need to regroup fast against a powerful Western Michigan team (15-8-1, 8-5-1-1 in conference). The Broncos, number eight in the pairwise, are coming off a sweep of number six Denver in Kalamazoo. Their leading scorer Josh Passolt nabbed a power play goal, while Ethan Frank had two goals and an assist on the weekend.

Earlier this season, the Mavericks split against the Broncos in Kalamazoo, losing Friday 7-2 while winning Saturday 4-2. The Mavericks will need to work hard and stick to the strategy that served them well against Denver and North Dakota in order to win at least a couple NCHC points this weekend.

Friday’s and Saturday’s games will be played at Baxter Arena. Both games will be available across Nebraska on NET1 and online for free at netnebraska.org. The games will also be available on NCHC.TV, on the radio at 1180 AM, or on the TuneIn Radio app.

OPPONENT WATCH: Miami of Ohio is fading fast, as Colorado College swept the RedHawks in Oxford 6-1, 3-2. St. Cloud State split the weekend at North Dakota 3-1, 1-5.

STANDINGS:

UNO is pretty far down the current PairWise rankings, coming in at 44th. 

See the full rankings:

https://www.collegehockeynews.com/ratings/ncaapwcr.php

The Mavericks continue to not be ranked in either the USCHO.com or the USAToday/USAHockey Coaches’ Poll:

UNO is firmly in last place in the NCHC, one point behind Miami and 10 points out of fourth place.

Connor Willingham is a periodic contributor to Mavpuck.com and a moderator of the Mavpuck Facebook group. He graduated from UNO in 2014 and is an avid follower of UNO and college hockey. You can find him on Twitter at @INTLMAV.