OMAHA, Neb. – The Mavericks were handed their most disappointing loss of the season Friday night at Baxter Arena, falling to Lindenwood by a 3-2 final.
The Lions, who entered the series with just three wins and were 59th out of 64 teams in the Pairwise, hadn’t scored in eight-plus periods – a shutout streak of 162:58. However, they lit the lamp three times and received 27 saves from sophomore goaltender Owen Bartoszkiewicz, en route to the road win.
The loss drops Omaha to 6-9-0 this season and 2-5-0 on home ice.
“Give Lindenwood credit. I thought they played a hard game and had some opportunistic goals at the right times,” head coach Mike Gabinet said after the game. “I thought we did some good things and then didn’t execute to get ourselves on the board.”
Freezing rain and icy roads slowed much of the Omaha metro down on Friday, resulting in a rather sparse crowd.
Yet the fans that ventured into the elements were stunned just 4:22 into the contest, as Jaeden Mercier scored on Lindenwood’s second shot.
The Lions created havoc with a loose puck in front of Simon Latkoczy and Ethan Zielke’s feed made its way to Mercier, who batted home his fifth of the season. It was Lindenwood’s first tally since Nov. 23 and ended their goal drought at 167:20.
Omaha started strong and generated a number of first-period chances, and the Mavs continued to send odd-man rushes up the ice. Charlie Lurie tied the game at the 10:06 mark and Harrison Israels fired a shot off the crossbar too with just under five minutes left in the opening frame.
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However, the Mavs looked disjointed throughout much of Friday’s loss and Lindenwood took advantage, especially in the second period – as reflected by their 16-5 lead on the shot count.
“We’ve got to be better,” Gabinet said. “We’ve got to execute better.”
The Mavs received an early second-period power play and Myles Hilman was later hauled down on a short-handed break, but it was slim pickings otherwise.
Sam Stange had a passing attempt intercepted by Gretna’s Coltan Wilkie behind the Omaha net and Wilkie fed Joe Prouty at the top of the far faceoff circle, who fired home his first goal of the season. Prouty’s goal came with 12:51 left in the second and gave Lindenwood a 2-1 lead.
The Lions needed just 59 seconds to extend that lead in the third too, as John Evans one-timed a shot home from the FNBO logo just inside the blue line.
Omaha Maverick forward Cameron Mitchell (25) during a college hockey match against Western Michigan Friay, November 8, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska. Photo by Jaelle Johnson.
Lindenwood came in averaging just 1.8 goals per game and Friday was just the fourth time they’ve scored three or more goals – all of which have yielded wins. The Lions also out-shot Omaha 35-29.
Cameron Mitchell cut the deficit in half with 8:11 left, as Garrett Pinoniemi drove a puck wide and found Mitchell at the top of the crease. All four of Mitchell’s goals have come over his last five games.
Mitchell and Stange created a 2-on-1 short-handed rush roughly a minute later and the Mavs received a huge power play with 4:37 left, yet they couldn’t convert. Omaha went 0-for-4 and is now 8-for-54 on the man advantage this season.
Omaha used its timeout before a late defensive-zone faceoff and pulled Latkoczy in the final minute as well, but it went for naught to cap off a frustrating night.
“The power play needed to get us one, especially tonight,” Gabinet said. “We need our power play to execute, and just some missed passes. Stuff we have to clean up to be successful tomorrow.”
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The reality is losses like this often prove costly in the spring, especially if the Mavs find themselves on the NCAA Tournament bubble. After a 4-2-0 stretch over the past month, Friday’s loss seemingly zapped much of that momentum too.
Omaha will look to finish the first half with a win on Saturday and earn its first-ever win over the third-year Lions.
Game 2 is set for another 7:07 p.m. faceoff at Baxter Arena.
Final line
Omaha 1-0-1 – 2
Lindenwood 1-1-1 – 3
First Period
LU: Jaeden Mercier (Ethan Zielke, Jack Anderson), 4:22
OMA: Charlie Lurie (Dylan Gratton, Tyler Rollwagen), 10:06
Second Period
LU: Joe Prouty (Coltan Wilkie, Ryan Forberg), 7:09
Third Period
LU: John Evans (Noah Houle), 0:59
OMA: Cameron Mitchell (Garrett Pinoniemi, Nolan Krenzen), 11:50
SOG
Omaha 14-5-10 – 29
Lindenwood 11-16-8 – 35
Power Play
Omaha – 0/4
Lindenwood – 0/2
Saves
Simon Latkoczy, Omaha: 10-15-7 – 32
Owen Bartoszkiewicz, Lindenwood 13-5-9 – 27
