Start fast and hold on tight!


UNO beat the No. 3 and 4 Michigan Wolverines 4-2 Friday night at Yost Ice Arena.  The victory is the third-straight shocker for a team expected to struggle some this season.

The Mavs have developed a certain trend in their recent victories over ranked opponents: score early, and hold on tight.

While it may be a temptation to play conservatively after early leads, the Mavs' have maintained tempo.



Coach Blais and the UNO Mavs are
5-0, thanks in large part to their early
scoring bursts.


“We play the same way [when we get early leads]," said UNO head coach Dean Blais.  "It’s not that we get up four goals and sit back."

Last Friday night at Minnesota, the Mavs jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then had it slowly shrink away before the Gophers tied the game late in the third period. The Mavs eventually came away with a 5-4 victory.

The following night the Mavs jumped out to a 3-0 lead.  The Gophers fought back to make the score 3-2 before the Mavs scored an empty-netter to make it a 4-2 final.

“I think we need to work on our shutdown defense a little more," said senior defenseman Eric Olimb following the victory. "But when they got that first [goal] we talked on the bench and knew we had to give them nothing for the rest of the game.”

The early leads have put added pressure on the Mavs defense who has faced a fury of shots late in games.

Last night in Ann Arbor, Mich. the Mavs scored all four goals before the third period.  Then UNO held on with sophomore goaltender John Faulkner fending off 26 of 28 Wolverine shot attempts in the second and third periods. The Wolnerines scored back-to back goals in the third to make the score 4-2 with five minutes remaining but couldn't get anymore as Faulkner brought his season saves total to 150, good for second best in the nation behind junior Dan Morrison of Canisius.

It was the third straight Friday that the No. 1 offense in the nation has lead 4-0. 

"It's disappointing to be down 4-0 in a game," said Michigan junior forward Luke Glendening.  "I think we worked hard in the third period, but sometimes that's not enough. I thought we played hard, but four goals is a tough deficit to come back from."

Game two is set for 6:35 p.m. CT tonight at Yost Ice Arena.

Faulkner benefitting from goalie coach

UNO Sophomore goaltender John Faulkner has seen an improvement in his play this season thanks in large part to actually having a position-specific coach.

“It’s tough to know what you’re doing wrong when you’re just stopping pucks in practice," said Faulkner. 

The Mavs brought on goalie coach Corey Wogtech this season to help Faulkner and his fellow netminders improve.  Wogtech worked this summer with former Mav Dan Ellis, who now plays in the NHL for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“Cory is so beneficial," said Faulkner.  "He really has studied the art of goaltending in the past few years and he’s just so detail oriented. He knows all the small things and he sees everything that you need to work on. We work every day on just trying to work on the small things."

Faulkner is No. 17 in the nation in save percentage at .928 and has saved 116 shots on the season.  Wogtech and Faulkner have tried to focus on improving the little things in Faulkner's technique.

"We’re breaking down videos," said Faulkner. "It’s nice to visually see what’s happening and what’s going wrong.”

Mavs look to continue road success at Michigan

Yost Ice Arena. Ann Arbor, Mich.

By Nate Tenopir

Senior Staff Writer

As the new member of an esteemed organization it’s usually proper etiquette to make your entrance lightly and show appreciation to your hosts.

 UNO had no such designs last weekend when they went up to Minnesota, kicked in the doors of Mariucci arena and announced their presence.

After having won only 4 games on the road all of last season, the Mavs went into one of the most historically tough places to play in all of college hockey and took both games. Rather than fold under the pressure of a new conference against new opponents, UNO came out and did what they do best: skate.

From early on in the first game, the Mavericks were controlling the pace of play and had outshot the Gophers 8-3 by the first TV timeout. When the period had ended, UNO had a 20-6 shot advantage and a 3-0 lead on the scoreboard.

While the extra 15 feet of width at Mariucci Arena may have had some impact, the Mavs preparation in the off-season is more likely the reason they found the success they did. Coach Dean Blais’ system calls for guys who have speed, endurance, and can press the play up and down the ice.

While one weekend doesn’t answer all the questions about switching to the ultra-successful WCHA, it does give you a sense of what the Mavs should be able to do all season long. Though they’ll often be facing teams with more highly touted talent and experience throughout the roster, their skating ability should keep them in most contests.

It’s something they’ll have to rely on again this weekend as they take their 4-0 record to Michigan and Yost Ice Arena. Although the wins at then No. 13 Minnesota were cause for some celebration, those feelings will have to be put aside quickly as the Mavs are sure to face a tougher test against the third and fourth ranked Wolverines.

Michigan (2-0-2), who won the CCHA tournament last year, was the coaches’ preseason pick to win the conference this season. Unlike the Gophers, the Wolverines feature several star playmakers that can turn a game at a moment’s notice.

The three that led the team are senior forwards Carl Hagelin, Louie Caporusso and Matt Rust. All three scored over 40 points last season and played in all of Michigan’s 45 games. In addition, the Wolverines welcome back 12 forwards, five defensemen and their top five point producers. Between the pipes Michigan will also have returning seniors in Shawn Hunwick and Bryan Hogan.

Hunwick took over for an injured Hogan late last year and posted a 7-1 mark earning him the right to split time at the position. So far this year he has appeared in three contests posting a .922 save percentage and 2.53 goals against mark while Hogan has seen action in one game adding an .889 save percentage and 2.00 GAA.

One interesting factor to be on the lookout for is the penalty situation. So far this season, the Mavs have had three games in which a player was guilty of a major penalty and ejected from the game. Twice on those major penalties another Mav was sent to the box putting the team in five-on-three situations. However, the team was able to kill off both five-on-three penalties and hold an 88 percent penalty kill mark so far this year.

The Mavs have also shown the ability to improve on this factor from game to game. In the first weekend of the year, the power play chances given up dropped from five on Friday against Clarkson to three on Saturday against RIT. Though UNO gave up seven chances in the Friday game at Minnesota, they bounced back to allow on two on Saturday. 

UNO is enjoying high marks on their power play chances as well. The Mavericks have scored a power play goal in each game besides last Saturday’s contest with Minnesota and hold a 32 percent mark for the season.

Translating all of that into success at Michigan this weekend will be a tough task. In the 15 games in Ann Arbor, UNO has won only one all time. Granted, most of those UNO teams didn’t go into Michigan as highly ranked or regarded as they are right now. But not all of them were facing a top five team with as much promise as the Wolverines have this season.

Prediction: 1-0-1 on the weekend

Friday: Michigan scores early in the third to take a two goal lead and cruises to victory, 4-2.

Saturday: UNO gets a game-tying goal with under 10 minutes to go and holds on for a point, 3-3.

Blais encouraged by Mavs' veteran leadership




From left to right: Senior Joey Martin (14), Sophomore Bryce Aneloski (24),
 Senior Rich Purslow (9), Junior Alex Hudson (26), and Senior Matt Ambroz (27).

 

The Mavs stand at 4-0 and 10^th in the polls and much of that credit goes to the veterans on the team. UNO head coach Dean Blais said his staff questioned that same leadership entering the season.

“We questioned our leadership and character at the start of the year,” said Blais.  “‘Do we have guys filling those Captain roles?’...you can say as much as you want, but as a coach if you don’t have that leadership in the locker room, you don’t have a lot - we’ve had it.”

The Mavs were able to come into a difficult Mariucci Arena and sweep a talented Minnesota Gophers team featuring 17 NHL draft picks.  The Mavs won 5-4 on Friday night and 4-2 on Saturday night, earning their first series sweep away from home in the Dean Blais era.

 “I thought we learned how to win on the road last year in the second half,” said Blais.  “We went into No. 1 Miami and beat them. We beat Notre Dame, but we didn’t have enough character leadership and experience [last year] and we do now.”

One of those veterans highlighted by Blais was junior forward Alex Hudson.  Hudson led the Mavericks with two goals in Friday night’s victory - the second coming with 96 seconds remaining in the game. The Gophers had erased a four goal deficit via the stick of senior forward Jay Barriball with 3:14 remaining, at which point Hudson showed his leadership abilities.

 “[Hudson] said ‘hey we’re still going to win this thing, we’re going to find a way’,” said Blais. “You got to give Hudson, [Terry] Broadhurst, [Matt] Ambroz credit for going out and doing the job. We didn’t have to say anything…that’s when you look at character and leadership and the older guys are the ones that did it.  It wasn’t the freshmen that said it.  It was the older guys that believe in each other.”

Hudson downplayed his role in motivating the bench, instead pointing to his coach's role.

“Dean said, 'get out there and get it going,' and I said, 'alright',” said Hudson.  “The confidence he put in us - I just wanted to go out there and if I got a chance I was going to bury it.”

In addition to Hudson’s play, the Mavs have benefited from the play of senior forward Matt Ambroz, who scored twice over the weekend.

“Matt’s one of the Captains and he’s been doing it since I met him last year,” said Blais.  “Matt has really stepped his game up.”

The Mavs will need every ounce of leadership this coming weekend as they travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. for a series against the Michigan Wolverines.  The former CCHA foe enters the weekend series ranked 4^th in the nation, while the Mavs come to Yost Arena as the No. 10 team in the nation.

“We’ve got to go back to work because we’re going to Michigan and I haven’t won there before in my career,” said senior defenseman Eric Olimb.  “We’ve got to get focused again.”

Second Period Photos

UNO's Matt Ambroz scores his fifth goal of the season.

Ambroz...same shot

UNO outshot the Gophers 25-12 in the second period.

The Mavs and Gophers seem to be starting some bad-blood early.

First Period Photos...

Mavs vs. Gophers...hockey time in Minnesota

UNO's Matt White scored on the rebound from this Joey Martin shot off the crossbar. 

UNO's Zahn Raubenheimer scored to put the Mavs up 2-0.

Mavericks Survive Late Charge from Tigers

When starting quarterback John Daniels went down with about 10 minutes left in the third quarter, the 17-14 UNO lead looked anything but safe. Yet in a year when there have been few times where the Mavs have gotten any breaks, a few bounces finally went their way.

Looking for a receiver down the sideline, Teigland was hit while throwing the ball. The pass got to its target, but after two or three tips, Fort Hayes came up with the ball and Teigland stayed on the turf.

As he was assisted to the training table, the UNO defense was able to come up with a three and out. ON the ensuing possession, Jon Daniels took over under center and preceded to mishandle a shotgun snap, put his team in a hole and trot off the field after UNO had a three and out of their own.

On the punt, Korey Allison, the Ft. Hayes return man, mishandled the catch and the ball went bounding into the end zone. Mav defender Bryan Shephard raced Allison to the ball and was able to recover near the back of the end zone just before sliding out to get the touchdown.

From there the Mavs were able to find enough other bounces and enough other offense to beat Ft. Hayes St. 41-29. Three minutes into the fourth quarter, a 9 yard Tiger touchdown pass made the score 31-29.

Facing a 2 point deficit the Tigers decided to go for two. Quarterback Mike Garrison's pass to the right corner of the end zone was broken up and the Mavs escaped still leading. With 7:42 still remaining, the outcome was still up in the air.

Camren Torneden took the Ft. Hayes kickoff 92 yards to the Tiger 8 and the Mavs produced 3 points from a field goal. The defense came with a three and out and the special teams got to their fifth kick of the year, blocking the punt and setting up the offense at the Ft. Hayes 38.

From there UNO rode Levi Terrel and Daniels found Aaron Konicek for a six yard touchdown pass to make the final 41-29 UNO.