OMAHA, Neb. – The Mavericks netted a pair of third-period goals Saturday night and completed their second sweep of the season, handing No. 13 Colorado College a 3-1 loss at Baxter Arena.
The win gives Omaha a four-game win streak against the Tigers and 6-1-2 record over their past nine against CC. Omaha is also 5-1-0 over its past six conference matchups and 6-4-0 in NCHC action overall.
“Great job by the guys tonight,” head coach Mike Gabinet said after the game. “I thought it was a really good second period by us tonight, and then a really textbook third period there to come up with the win in the third period. So just overall, a really nice performance by the guys and two big wins.”
It’s two wins that could prove big down the stretch, especially as it should give Gabinet’s club plenty of momentum to open the second half. Omaha is currently tied with Denver for fourth in the NCHC standings with 17 points, although there’s plenty of hockey left to be played.
However, Omaha has an opportunity to keep that momentum rolling the next few weeks, as the Mavs head to Miami next weekend – a team they out-scored 11-1 and swept in late November – and host St. Cloud State – a team Omaha also beat on the road in early December.
Having that SCSU series on home ice and UMD two weeks later should help too, as the home crowd made a difference this weekend.
“The building was loud and I think that they give us energy, and everyone can feel it,” said junior goaltender Simon Latkoczy. “It is fun to play here and we really have great fans, and we appreciate it a lot.
“So we are happy that we could give them these two wins, because, yeah, this season has been up and down, and they haven’t gotten as many as maybe they would deserve. But we are doing our best every game and I hope we are going to win more games now in the second half.”
Latkoczy had yet another big game as he made 33 saves, securing the win in his 70th career start. Latkoczy outdueled Kaidan Mbereko – who many consider the NCHC’s top goaltender and made 27 saves himself – for a second consecutive night and made 75 of a possible 78 saves on the weekend. He also helped Omaha successfully kill all four CC power plays.
Omaha’s penalty kill is now 96.3% on home ice this season, which is tied for the nation’s best home PK, and 82.1% (46/56) overall.
As for Latkoczy, he’s 8-9-0 with a .932 save percentage and 2.32 GAA, and 6-3-0 with a .942 and 2.13 in NCHC play.
“I thought he played really well this weekend,” Gabinet said. “I thought he was really poised and really calm in net, and didn’t have a lot of rebounds. I thought he just played tremendously this weekend.”
“Two wins in conference is not easy to do, especially against Colorado (College). They’re a good team,” Latkoczy added. “I think that we played good this whole weekend as a team, and we battled hard and we deserved it.”
Forward, Zach Urdahl, goes after the puck during a hockey match at Baxter Arena on Saturday, December 14, 2024, in Omaha, Nebraska. Photo by Collin Stilen.
While Latkoczy did his job stopping the puck, three shots ended up in the opposite net. Zach Urdahl gave Omaha a late-first-period lead for a second consecutive night, as the senior forward fired his eighth of the season past Mbereko.
Urdahl stripped the puck from CC’s Fisher Scott just inside the Omaha zone and used his speed to create a breakaway, beating Mbereko blocker-side inside the final minute. Urdahl ranks second on the Omaha roster with those eight goals, trailing only Sam Stange (9), and finished the weekend with two points (1-1-2).
Scott was involved in second goal too, except this time to the chagrin of Omaha fans, as the freshman defenseman tied the game with 5:07 left in the second. It was the first goal of Scott’s NCAA career and made it 1-1, yet the final two came from the home side.
Harrison Israels scored the eventual game-winner 1:47 into the third and Myles Hilman added the dagger with 38.2 seconds left, firing the puck into the empty net.
The line of Hilman, Israels and Brady Risk combined for 10 points (5-5-10) in the sweep and Hilman had four points (1-3-4) individually. Risk had a hat trick in Friday’s win as well.
Omaha also survived a lengthy 6-on-5 advantage, as CC pulled Mbereko and sent the extra attacker out with nearly three minutes left. Yet the Mavs battened down defensively and weathered the storm to pull back to .500 (10-10-0) on the season.
The Mavs are also back at .500 on home ice (5-5-0) and have won five of their past six at Baxter Arena.
“That was a good job,” Gabinet said of those final minutes. “Really good job by the defensemen and the forwards protecting the middle and being aggressive when appropriate, and really nice for Hilman there to put in the empty netter.”
Omaha will look to keep the momentum rolling next weekend at Miami. Game 1 is set for a 6:05 CDT faceoff in Oxford, Ohio.
Final line
Omaha 1-0-2– 3
Colorado College 0-1-0 – 1
First Period
Zach Urdahl (unassisted), 19:17
Second Period
Fisher Scott (Drew Montgomery, Stanley Cooley), 14:53
Third Period
Harrison Israels (Myles Hilman, Isaiah Norlin), 1:47
Myles Hilman (Brock Bremer, Griffin Ludtke), 19:21, ENG
SOG
Omaha 9-13-8 – 30
Colorado College 11-11-12 – 34
Power Play
Omaha – 0/4
Colorado College – 0/4
Saves
Simon Latkoczy, Omaha: 11-10-12 – 33
Kaidan Mbereko, Colorado College 8-13-6 – 27
