Mavericks close out 2024 with exhibition win over Manitoba

OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha Mavericks returned from the Christmas break Sunday afternoon with an exhibition win over Manitoba, 5-0 at Baxter Arena.

The win closes out the 2024 calendar year for the Mavs and unofficially opens the second half of the 2024-25 campaign.

“I think you could tell the first five, maybe seven minutes of the game we were a little sloppy with our execution from coming off the break, but as the game progressed, I thought we got better,” head coach Mike Gabinet said after the game. “Nice to get a good exhibition game in and get everybody in the lineup too. It was nice to see everybody perform.”

Jacob Guevin put the Mavs ahead just 3:09 in and netted the first of five Omaha goals on the afternoon, followed by Sam Stange in the second, and Jimmy Glynn, Isaiah Norlin and Zach Urdahl in the third.

Guevin’s goal came via an Alexi Van Houtte-Cachero drop pass, as the junior defenseman collected the puck at the top of the far faceoff circle and wired home his third goal of the season – although the exhibition tally won’t officially count on Guevin’s stat line.

Omaha out-shot the Bisons 41-20 on the afternoon, including a 30-9 edge through two periods. Along with multiple missed nets and tremendous saves by Manitoba’s Kolby Thornton.

Omaha dominated the total shot attempts too, 55-26, and controlled much of the possession battle, especially over the first two periods. The Mavs also finished 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and converted on a third-period power-play, along with a successful penalty shot.

“I thought it was a good starting point coming back from Christmas,” said graduate forward Jimmy Glynn. “Obviously everyone’s a little bit tired coming back, but getting everyone out there felt good to start playing again.”

Freshman Kevin Reidler made 20 saves in the win, which was the third start of his college career. Reidler saw just two second-period shots, the first of which didn’t come until the 7:25 mark, but he did face a flurry in the opening minutes of the third and made 11 saves over the final 20 minutes.

Sunday’s contest allowed Omaha’s staff a chance to get a good look at freshman forward Liam Watkins too, along with defensemen Aiden Gallacher and Isaiah Norlin – who scored Omaha’s fourth goal and Gabinet said “played really well” and has “a lot of natural offensive ability.”

Watkins and Gallacher played just one and four games before the break respectively as they worked their way back from injuries, while Norlin last played on Oct. 25.

The win also featured a steady dose of Omaha’s “bottom five” forwards on the line chart – Van Houtte-Cachero, Myles Hilman, Charlie Lurie, Tyler Rollwagen and Jacob Slipec – and a number of young blue liners.

Omaha dressed 23 skaters – 14 forwards and nine defensemen – for the exhibition contest.

“I wish we had more exhibition games in college because I think one of the things that’s tricky is every game is so important,” Gabinet said. “So it’s nice to see some guys play. You get to see them in practice obviously, but games are a different situation, so I really like these exhibition games where you can play everybody and you’re rolling your lines a little bit.”

“You never know what’s gonna happen – Someone gets hurt or you get called to play a role that you haven’t played before, so I think it’s very important,” Glynn added of the elevated opportunity for some of Omaha’s younger players. “You’re just trying to get guys used to the college speed.”

Omaha (7-9-0, 4-4-0) will head to Palm Springs, Calif. later this week as the Mavs compete in their second tournament of the season – The Cactus Cup.

Omaha will face Holy Cross at 9 p.m. CDT on Friday and either Michigan Tech or UMass Lowell on Saturday. Saturday’s start time will be dictated by Friday’s result.

Omaha won the Ice Breaker Tournament to open the season in October, earning wins over Minnesota and UMass in Las Vegas.

The Mavs will return to Baxter Arena the following weekend as Omaha hosts Colorado College on Jan. 10-11.

Final line

Omaha 1-1-3 – 5
Manitoba 0-0-0 – 0

First Period
Jacob Guevin (Alexi Van Houtte-Cachero), 3:09

Second Period
Sam Stange (Chase LaPinta, Isaiah Norlin), 17:12

Third Period
Jimmy Glynn, 13:56, Penalty Shot
Isaiah Norlin (Zach Urdahl, Tyler Rollwagen), 16:06, PP
Zach Urdahl (Aiden Gallacher), 17:41

SOG
Omaha 12-18-11 – 41
Manitoba 7-2-11 – 20

Power Play
Omaha 1/2
Manitoba 0/4

Saves
Kevin Reidler, Omaha: 7-2-11 – 20
Kolby Thornton, Manitoba: 11-13-0 – 24
Ross Hawryluk, Manitoba 0-4-8 – 12