OMAHA, Neb. – Mike Gabinet’s message was simple heading into Saturday’s first-half finale… Execute.
The Mavericks failed to do so on Friday and were handed their most disappointing loss of the season as a result.
However, Kevin Reidler delivered a pair of key saves in the opening minutes, Noah Ellis gave Omaha an early lead and the Mavs did enough over the final two periods, en route to a 2-1 win over Lindenwood.
“Great response by the group,” Gabinet said after the game. “Again, give Lindenwood a lot of credit. We knew from watching them on video that they’ve played a lot of good hockey teams to close games. I thought we won a few more puck battles tonight, executed a little bit better and we were able to come out with a 2-1 win.”
While Saturday’s win was far from perfect, it’d be hard not to like Omaha’s response. Especially to clinch the win late in the third period.
Omaha finishes the first half at 7-9-0 and is 5-3-0 over its past eight.
“I think we had a pretty solid first half, at least towards the end here,” Ellis said. “We started off really hot and then went on that skid, so to get out of that was really good. And then I think tonight was really good and it really showed our identity.”
What a difference 24 hours makes. Friday’s weather certainly didn’t help the cause and led to a rather sparse crowd, but the Mavs didn’t give them many reasons to engage either. The Lions lit the lamp just 4:22 in too, stunning those in attendance.
Omaha Maverick Noah Ellis (15) warms up before Omaha vs Wisconsin exhibition hockey match Saturday, October 5, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska. Photo by Kyle Byers.
However, it was the home side with an early lead in the finale, as Ellis netted his first Maverick goal just 3:54 into the contest.
Omaha lost an offensive-zone faceoff just seconds prior but Garrett Pinoniemi regained possession and the Mavs threw multiple chances at the Lindenwood cage. Charlie Lurie then corralled the puck in the slot and bumped a pass over to Ellis, who fired home a shot from the top of the faceoff circle, bringing the crowd – which was announced at 6,159 – to its feet.
The Urbandale, Iowa product scored in his seventh career NCAA game while playing at UMass (Nov. 4, 2022) but hadn’t since – ending a 52-game drought.
“I thought he’s played four really good hockey games in a row here,” Gabinet said of the junior defenseman. “We challenged him to keep working on that consistency of his play, and I thought he did just that. Great to see him get rewarded with a goal.”
Omaha continued to buzz after the Ellis goal and perhaps a little luck was on their side too. Omaha survived multiple first-period scrums, one of which Reidler found himself sprawled out of his crease and Jacob Guevin laid down on the goal line to block a shot, drawing a loud ovation from the home faithful.
Reidler had a couple tense moments, mainly while playing the puck, but turned in a solid outing overall. The Ottawa Senators draft pick (2022) made 29 saves in his second career start and earned his first NCAA win.
“Just tried to be as confident as possible out there,” Reidler said. “It was my first (home) start, so I just tried to build on that mentally and it turned out to be a pretty good game.”
“I thought he played really solid,” Gabinet added. “Made a big save early and got settled in as the game went on. They pushed in the third period like a team does down by one and he made a couple nice saves and controlled the rebounds, and he’s a guy that’s been building all season to get to this point.”
Kevin Reidler made 29 saves Saturday night, 17 of which came in the third period, and earned his first NCAA win. “Unreal,” Noah Ellis said of his freshman goaltender. “He made some huge saves – Obviously big body and takes up a lot of the net, and he moves really well. So we’re super happy for him.”
Reidler’s lone blemish came late in the opening frame, as Tyler Loughman got the Lions on the board. Loughman and David Gagnon raced up ice on a 2-on-1 and Gagnon sent a perfect feed to Loughman, who angled home a backhander from between the hash marks.
Pinoniemi was handed a tripping minor shortly after the goal as well, and the Lions carried 40 seconds of power-play time to the middle frame.
Yet Omaha’s penalty kill – which finished the night 2-for-2 and weekend 4-for-4 – stood tall. Omaha owns the nation’s second-best penalty kill on home ice at 95.2% (20-for-21).
Omaha’s power play converted on the second of its three chances too, as Brady Risk scored a power-play goal with 4:37 left in the second. Risk’s goal came with just one second remaining on the man advantage and stood as the eventual game-winner, as he buried a feed from fellow Alaska transfer Harrison Israels.
Omaha improves to 4-1-0 when leading after 40 minutes this season.
“It’s huge for us to be able to work and build off this going into the second half,” Reidler said. “We know that we can do it and know that we can have a third period like that where we don’t have to create as much offense because we know we can be resilient defensively.”
Lindenwood (4-13-1) out-shot Omaha 17-4 and mounted a valiant comeback bid in a physical third period, yet the Lions fell short.
Omaha will return to Baxter Arena on Dec. 29 for an exhibition contest against Manitoba before heading to Palm Springs, Cal. for the Cactus Cup on Jan. 3-4.
The Mavs return to NCHC play the following weekend as they’ll host Colorado College on Jan. 10-11.
Final line
Omaha 1-1-0 – 2
Lindenwood 1-0-0 – 1
First Period
Noah Ellis (Charlie Lurie, Jacob Slipec), 3:54, EV
Tyler Loughman (David Gagnon, Mitch Allard), 17:57, EV
Second Period
Brady Risk (Harrison Israels, Charlie Lurie), 15:24, PP
Third Period
None
SOG
Omaha 14-12-4 – 30
Lindenwood 8-5-17 – 30
Power Play
Omaha – 1/3
Lindenwood – 0/2
Saves
Kevin Reidler, Omaha: 7-5-17 – 29
Owen Bartoszkiewicz, Lindenwood 13-11-4 – 28
Attendance
6,159
