Mitchell Cutcher
Sports Editor
Weiss the Hero Friday Night
The Mavericks outlasted Colorado College Friday night in a game that went down to the wire and set up an exciting finish. Tyler Weiss scored the game winning goal in overtime to give the Mavericks two points in the first game of two.
“It was a bit of a ticky tacky game,” said Omaha head coach Mike Gabinet. “I was proud of our guys to stick with it there, and obviously come back to a pretty dramatic overtime to find a way to win. Those are games you got to find ways to win and our guys did just that tonight.”
Omaha started the game with their foot on the pedal and enjoyed the majority of puck control in the opening period. The Mavericks made it difficult for Colorado College to clear the puck out of their own zone, and Omaha was able to intercept the puck in the neutral zone multiple times. When the first period came to an end, the Mavericks were out shooting Colorado College 10-5.
Ty Mueller was Johnny on the spot after Kaidan Mbereko made a save to give Omaha a 1-0 lead in the first period. Mbereko was able to fend off the first shot, but the puck fell on Mueller’s stick, and he was able to beat the freshman goaltender. This was Mueller’s 11th goal of the season.
“Really nice play there, I thought [Mueller] was good all night,” said Gabinet. “He had a great game and scored a great goal. Obviously, he plays a key role for us.”
At the end of the first period with 0.7 seconds left, Colorado College was called for too many men on the ice. The Mavericks would squander the powerplay opportunity just 45 seconds into the second period when Davis Pennington was called for interference. Ultimately, neither team would be able to take advantage of their opportunities.
Omaha extended their lead over Colorado College when Jacob Slipec kept the puck in the Colorado end and dished the puck to Kaden Bohlsen. Bohlsen was able to beat the Colorado College goalie with a shot from the high slot. This was the Minnesota native’s second goal of the season.
Colorado College would have an abundance of chances at the end of the second period when the Mavericks took back to back penalties. The Tigers would score their first goal of the game just 18 seconds into their five-on-three powerplay. It was Noah Laba who beat Simon Latkoczy, this was the Slovak’s first goal allowed in his last 113 minutes of ice time.
The Tigers would tie the game up with their second power play goal of the night following a goalie interference penalty on Nolan Sullivan. Hunter Mckown was able to beat Latkozy for Colorado College’s second goal of the game. This was Mckown’s team leading 16th goal of the season.
Kaidan Mbereko was the star of the game for the Tigers. The Colorado native continued his stellar season on Friday night. The freshman goaltender recorded BLANK saves and was the main reason Colorado College was able to keep the game tied for so long.
The two teams would remain tied after 60 minutes and it would require overtime to decide a winner. In the overtime period the game would see everything, including a Colorado College penalty shot. It was Noah Laba taking the shot for the Tigers, and he would lose the puck before getting a shot off.
Following the penalty shot the Mavericks would head to the power play. Omaha won the draw and after only one pass, Tyler Weiss scored the game winning goal to give the Mavericks the win in game one of the weekend.
Colorado Wins Shootout Saturday
Omaha was 16.8 seconds away from three points and sole possession of second place in the NCHC Saturday night, but a goal by Colorado College’s Noah Laba stunned Omaha fans. The Mavericks now sit in a three-way tie for second place in the NCHC with six games to play.
“You just got to stick with it,” said Omaha head coach Mike Gabinet. “ Sometimes the game doesn’t reward you, but if you stay with it long enough, it will. I feel for our guys tonight, that’s a hard fought battle there with a lot of weird circumstances taking place. That’s how it goes sometimes.”
For the second night in a row Omaha came out strong and dominated puck control for the first five minutes of the game. The story was eerily similar to the Friday night matchup as the Mavericks were yet again unable to capitalize on their strong start. Kaiden Mbereko was able to pick up where he left off from the night before with 11 saves in the first period.
Ty Mueller started the party for the Mavericks when he scored in back-to-back games for the third time this season. Jack Randl and Nolan Krenzen were credited for the assists as Omaha’s top line continues to produce when needed. This was Mueller’s 12th goal of the season.
“They were good,” Gabinet said of Ty Mueller and Jack Randl. “They were good tonight, like they have been all year. It was a great goal by Ty to get us started there.”
It was a physical second period that saw multiple shoving matches and a few penalties. During the period Colorado College made it a point that they were not going to be pushed around and did not back down. There were a total of five penalties in the period, four of which were on the Tigers.
Colorado College was able to tie the game up when Jack Millar found Ryan Beck with an outlet pass. Beck beat Omaha goaltender Simon Latkoczy with a backhanded shot on the breakaway chance. That would be Beck’s second goal of the season.
The game would not stay tied for long when the Mavericks scored on the power play 16:25 into the second period. Tyler Weiss found Jack Randl in the right circle and Randl was able to blast the puck past the Colorado College goaltender. That goal gave the senior forward his team leading 16th goal of the season.
The Tigers would spoil the party at Baxter Arena with 16.8 seconds remaining when Noah Laba was able to tie the game. Colorado College emptied the net, and the Mavericks were pressed into their own zone. The Tigers were able to get a loose puck in front of the net and get it past Latkoczy.
There would be a crazy finish for the second night in a row when the game went to a five minute overtime period and neither team scored. The game went to a shootout where Noah Serdachny gave the Tigers the extra point in the NCHC standings. Omaha walked away with only one point from the Saturday night contest.
