Justin Kies
CONTRIBUTOR
The top-ranked Huskies of St. Cloud State faced-off with UNO at Baxter Arena this weekend for a two-game NCHC series on Friday and Saturday, February 22nd and 23rd.
The Huskies, who already swept the Mavs earlier this year, were looking to avoid an upset and managed to escape Omaha unscathed. Much like the first series between the two, St. Cloud State controlled much of the game on Friday night.
The Huskies were up 4-0 before entering the third period, and in front of approximately 6,000 fans, were looking for a shutout in game one on the road. Thankfully Omaha’s Mason Morelli pushed one past SCSU late in the third to avoid a goose egg at home.
After winning game one of the weekend series 4-1, the Huskies continued to apply pressure in hopes of clinching the NCHC regular-season championship a little early this year and did so in excellent fashion. Scoring two quick goals in the first period off the sticks of Jack Poehling and Robby Jackson, the Huskies found themselves in another comfortable spot at the end of the first period in back to back nights.
Despite UNO being 30 for 30 shots on goal, SCSU’s defense and sophomore goalie David Hrenak refused to give up a goal and dished UNO a shutout on their home ice Saturday night. St. Cloud added on two late goals in the third period to put away the Mavs for good by a score of 5-0.
After the weekend series, the Mavs now finds themselves in 8th place in the NCHC standings while SCSU sits atop the standings. The Mavs have two series left before the start of the conference tournament and with their upcoming opponents, Denver and North Dakota, it could be a tough road ahead.
UNO has now lost three straight and is scheduled for another home series next weekend when they play Denver on Friday and Saturday, March 1st and 2nd. After Denver, the Mavs will hit the road the following weekend to Grand Forks where they will face North Dakota for their final regular-season series.
