OMAHA, Neb. – As Saturday’s game between Omaha and Miami hit the midway point, Mike Gabinet’s club had as many goals as the RedHawks had recorded shots.
After scoring 21 goals through its first 11 games, Omaha exploded for a season-high eight en route to a dominant 8-1 win over the RedHawks.
Omaha has now won three of its last four and pulled back to .500 in NCHC play at 3-3-0.
“Great win and nice to put a complete two games together,” Gabinet said. “I thought that was a pretty solid 120 minutes from our group this weekend and nice to see a few guys get on the board and get some confidence and some mojo rolling. So we’ll take the two wins and get ready for St. Cloud in a couple weeks.”
Perhaps Saturday’s start was fitting for Military Appreciation Night, as Miami goaltender Ethan Dahlmeir was under siege and faced a barrage of shots over the opening 20 minutes.
Omaha dominated the first-period shot count, 17-3, and held the RedHawks shot-less for the opening 17:10, as Simon Latkoczy was finally tested by a Raimonds Vitolins wrister. Omaha racked up six of its shots on an early shift by the Hilman-Glynn-Bremer line too, and its dominance continued from there.
Sam Stange has eight points (4-4-8) over his last four games and now leads Omaha in both goals (6) and points (10). Photo John S. Peterson.
The Mavs fired 17 shots in each of the first two periods and out-shot the RedHawks 43-22 on the night. Omaha came in averaging 27.7 shots per game.
“We’ve been able to get some wins and string a couple together now, but that was kinda one that we were looking for where we could fill the net a little bit,” said graduate forward Sam Stange, who scored two of Omaha’s eight goals and added an assist. “Got some really hard-working and some skill goals, and it was fun to watch.”
Charlie Lurie got the party started at the 9:30 mark as the sophomore fired home a power-play goal from the far faceoff dot. The goal was Lurie’s second of the season, both of which have come on the man advantage.
Stange doubled the lead at the 12:17 mark, capitalizing on a Miami turnover along the wall and taking the puck to the net, and Tyler Rollwagen made it 3-0 late in the frame. Rollwagen’s goal came with just 1:04 left on the clock and was also on the power play.
Omaha entered the night with just four total first-period tallies this season but nearly tied that mark with three goals in a 9:26 stretch.
“It was great execution to start the game,” Gabinet said. “We were clean on exits, I thought our forecheck was excellent again tonight and gave them a little bit of trouble to exit cleanly, so just a lot of good things stacking up upon each other. We didn’t have a goal for the first (9:30), so nice to stick with it and a couple really key power-play goals to kinda take the wind out of their sails early.”
Junior forward Cameron Mitchell scored his second goal of the season on Saturday, both of which have come short-handed. “He’s a climber,” Gabinet said. “He’s a guy that just constantly keeps investing and he was out of the lineup quite a bit his first two years put just kept showing up and putting the work in.” Photo by Jaelle Johnson.
Gabinet’s club continued to come in waves as Omaha netted another four goals in the second.
Stange scored his second of the night and team-leading sixth of the season at the 5:27 mark, Cameron Mitchell followed suit nearly two minutes later and Myles Hilman made it 6-0 just over a minute after that.
Mitchell’s goal was his second of the series and once again came short-handed, as the junior forced a breakaway and slid a back-hander under Dahlmeir.
Hilman then carried a puck from the far blue line and lifted a shot over Bruno Bruveris, who replaced Dahlmeir after Hilman’s goal.
“Great first period, great second, and we just kept it going,” Stange said. “It was just staying consistent with what made us successful last night and I think we did that for 60 (minutes) again tonight.”
Blake Mesenburg scored Miami’s first and ultimately only goal of the series with 5:34 left in the second period. However, Jimmy Glynn answered with a buzzer-beater, redirecting a Griffin Ludtke feed for another power-play goal.
Glynn’s goal came with just 0.8 left on the clock and was his fifth career tally against Miami.
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After going 0-for-6 on Friday and entering Saturday’s contest 5-for-39 on the power play, the Mavs converted three times in the series-clincher. It’s Omaha’s first game with three power-play goals since Dec. 2, 2022 against Western Michigan.
“Nice to see the power play get rewarded,” Gabinet said. “We’ve been struggling to score in tight games and when that power play can do what it did tonight, it helps give you that cushion to play with more comfort.”
Harrison Israels tacked on one final exclamation point as he and fellow Alaska transfer Brady Risk – both of which Gabinet praised after the game – teamed up with 10:23 left. The goal doubled Omaha’s previous single-game season high of four (Nov. 15 at Arizona State).
Omaha Maverick forward Jacob Slipec (13) and forward Harrison Israels (23) during a college hockey match against Western Michigan Friay, November 8, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska. Photo by Jaelle Johnson.
The home fans were later treated to some fireworks too, as a massive scrum broke out after the whistle with 9:36 left. Miami’s Brayden Morrison was handed a roughing minor out of it – served by Matt Choupani – while all 10 players on the ice received 10-minute misconducts and were sent to their respective locker rooms. The officiating crew was also down a man at the time as linesman Sam Rankin was forced to leave the game (injury) late in the first period.
Will Craig also made his NCAA debut in the win, taking over with 10:04 left. The sophomore stopped all four shots he faced and was welcomed with an ovation from the sellout crowd, along with praise from Gabinet after the game.
It’s the first time Omaha (5-7-0, 3-3-0) has scored eight or more goals in an NCHC contest since Dec. 3, 2020 – which came against Western Michigan – and the first time the Mavs have scored eight goals in general since Oct. 13, 2023 – a season-opening win over Niagara.
It’s technically Omaha’s first sweep of the season too, although the Mavs won both games to open the season at the Ice Breaker Tournament.
The Mavs will be off next week before finishing the first half at St. Cloud State (Dec. 6-7) and against Lindenwood (Dec. 13-14).
Omaha will see Miami (3-11-2, 0-6-0) again on Jan. 17-18, 2025. The RedHawks have now lost seven straight.
Final line
Omaha 3-4-1 – 8
Miami 0-1-0 – 1
First Period
Charlie Lurie (Dylan Gratton, Brock Bremer), 9:30, PP
Sam Stange (unassisted), 12:17
Tyler Rollwagen (Griffin Ludtke, Jacob Guevin), 18:56, PP
Second Period
Sam Stange (Chase LaPinta), 5:27
Cameron Mitchell (unassisted), 7:21, SH
Myles Hillman (Jimmy Glynn), 8:38
Blake Mesenburg (Michael Feenstra, Matt Choupani), 14:26
Jimmy Glynn (Griffin Ludtke, Tyler Rollwagen), 19:59, PP
Third Period
Harrison Israels (Brady Risk), 9:37
SOG
Omaha 17-17-9 – 43
Miami 3-9-10 – 22
Power Play
Omaha – 3/6
Miami – 0/4
Saves
Simon Latkoczy, Omaha: 3-8-6 – 17
Will Craig, Omaha: 0-0-4 – 4
Ethan Dahlmeir, Miami: 14-5-0 – 19
Bruno Bruveris, Miami 0-8-8 – 16
