OMAHA, Neb. – If you’re a fan of offense and intense hockey, Baxter Arena was just the place for you Friday night, as the Mavericks returned to NCHC action with a 5-2 win over No. 13 Colorado College.
The two teams combined for seven goals – including five in a 5:48 stretch – and showed their disliking for each other throughout the night, and Brady Risk netted Omaha’s first hat trick of the season.
The win lifts Omaha to 5-4-0 in NCHC play and the Mavs also improved to 5-1-2 over their past eight against the Tigers.
“Good team effort tonight,” said head coach Mike Gabinet after the game. “They’re a good team and we knew it would be a tough night, but really proud of the guys.”
In a game that featured two of the NCHC’s top goaltenders, Kaidan Mbereko and Simon Latkoczy, and teams that came in allowing just over two goals per game – CC (2.3) and Omaha (2.4) – few could’ve predicted Friday’s seven goals.
Simon Latkoczy made 42 of a possible 44 saves Friday night in a 5-2 win over No. 13 Colorado College.
Seven of the past 10 games between Omaha and CC had been decided by a goal or less, and Friday featured that same intensity. Especially early, as the game saw plenty of checks and limited time and space.
Despite remaining scoreless, the Mavs and Tigers traded chances throughout the opening 20 minutes, and Risk ultimately broke the ice at the 19:53 mark. Risk’s goal came on the power play after CC’s Max Burkholder was called for interference, which potentially saved a goal off an odd-man rush.
However, Risk cashed in with Omaha’s 10th power-play tally of the season and just its second since its Nov. 23 win over Miami. Omaha was one for its past 21 dating back to that game.
It was also Risk’s fourth goal of the season and third in four games, although he was far from done.
“I’m just sticking to the process,” Risk said of his recent success. “It’s easy to get frustrated when things aren’t going right, but just sticking to the process and sticking to the coaches’ game plan, Just trying to do what’s gonna help the team.”
Risk’s tally started that stretch of five goals in 5:48, including four in the opening 5:41 of the middle frame – two for each side.
Sam Stange gave Omaha a 2-0 lead at the 2:03 mark, only to be answered by Ty Gallagher at the 4:19 mark. Risk needed just 13 seconds to regain Omaha’s two-goal lead at 3-1, but CC’s Zaccharya Wisdom answered 65 seconds later, angling home a backdoor feed from Burkholder.
The four second-period goals could have easily been more too.
Risk fired a shot off the post with just over 13 minutes left and a successful Omaha challenge took a third CC goal off the board – which was arguably the biggest play of the night.
Chase McLane tipped a Ryan Koering shot past Latkoczy and initially looked to tie the game with 9:33 left in the second. However, the play was deemed offsides after a review, and the pendulum seemed to swing in Omaha’s favor from there.
Omaha carried that 3-2 lead into the intermission and is now 5-1-0 when leading after 40 minutes this season.
“I think it was really good for the boys to get a nice win against a really good opponent in our conference and just kinda have higher expectations for the second half of the year with NCHC play,” Risk said.
Brady Risk now has six goals through 18 games this season, three of which came Friday night. Zach Urdahl was the last Maverick to record a hat trick last March during the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. It’s the second hatty of Risk’s NCAA career.
The Tigers opened the third with 52 seconds of power-play time and were unable to capitalize, and Omaha ultimately took advantage minutes later.
Marcus Broberg held the puck just inside the blue line and threw it at the CC cage, which trickled through Mbereko and sat on the goal line for Cameron Mitchell to tap home. Mitchell’s goal came exactly three minutes into the third and was his sixth over his past nine games, although the junior was unable to finish the game with an apparent injury.
Omaha nearly scored again just seconds later, as the puck took a fortuitous bounce off the end wall and past Mbereko, but slid harmlessly through the slot.
Yet the Mavs got their fifth goal and Risk completed the hat trick with 11:59 left, becoming the first Omaha player since Zach Urdahl (March 22, 2024 vs. North Dakota) to do so.
The right-shot forward doubled his season goal total (6) on Friday and has lit the lamp five times over his past four games.
“I’m super pumped for him,” Gabinet said. “Him and (fellow Alaska transfer Harrison Israels) are just unbelievable people first off. They work every day, they’re super dedicated to helping the team and they had a little bit of a slow start here coming in, and I think over the last six, seven, maybe even eight games they’ve been some of our top players.”
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While it might get overshadowed by the five goals, which is Omaha’s second-highest single-game total of the season, Latkoczy had one of his best games of the season. The junior made 42 saves and earned his first win since Dec. 6, snapping a three-game skid. Risk said he “deserves everything he gets.”
Latkoczy made a number of key saves too, including 15 in the third, and it’s his fourth time turning aside 40 or more shots this season.
Omaha (9-10-0, 5-4-0) will go for the sweep against CC (10-8-1, 4-4-1) on Saturday, as the Tigers have now dropped four straight. Game 2 is set for another 7:07 p.m. faceoff at Baxter Arena.
Final line
Omaha 1-2-2– 5
Colorado College 0-2-0 – 2
First Period
Brady Risk (Sam Stange, Jimmy Glynn), 19:53, PP
Second Period
Sam Stange (Zach Urdahl, Dylan Gratton), 2:03
Ty Gallagher (Noah Laba), 4:19
Brady Risk (Myles Hilman, Harrison Israels), 4:36
Zaccharya Wisdom (Max Burkholder, Noah Laba), 5:41
Third Period
Cameron Mitchell (Marcus Broberg, Tyler Rollwagen), 2:53
Brady Risk (Harrison Israels, Myles Hilman), 8:01
SOG
Omaha 10-10-9 – 29
Colorado College 13-16-15 – 44
Power Play
Omaha – 1/3
Colorado College – 0/2
Saves
Simon Latkoczy, Omaha: 13-14-15 – 42
Kaidan Mbereko, Colorado College 9-8-7 – 24
