Justin Kies
CONTRIBUTOR
The 17th ranked Maverick Hockey team continued their season on Friday and Saturday night, January 12th and 13th, with a home series against the 20th ranked Miami University RedHawks.
Over 5,000 fans showed up for Friday night’s game which totaled 18 goals between the two teams. The Mavs offense got off to a fast start and the senior Grant Gallo was able to score first after 10 minutes and 16 seconds of play in the first period. UNO continued to stay aggressive on offense and scored another goal four minutes later off the stick of Jake Randolph, giving the Mavs an early 2-0 lead.
Miami University’s Kiefer Sherwood then answered with a goal of his own with 1:38 left in the first period to keep the RedHawks close. UNO was determined to keep their offensive momentum and scored a goal just 20 seconds later, Tristan Keck was assisted by Zach Jordan during a UNO power play and they had themselves another two-point lead. The Mavericks would not ease up, senior Joel Messner added to the lead with 37 seconds remaining in the first period to make it 4-1.
Miami University seemed to begin the second period with a bit more intensity, Louie Belpedio found himself a goal after just 3 minutes to make the score 4-2. Phil Knies of Miami added another goal eight minutes later and kept it close for the RedHawks with a score of 4-3.
UNO’s 13 minute scoring drought would then end, Zach Jordan scored unassisted with 6:49 remaining in the second period and Tyler Vesel added another one three minutes after to make it 6-3. The RedHawks continued to try and keep up with the Maverick offense, as each team alternated scoring two goals until the score was 8-5 with UNO tacking on one more making it 9-5 after just six minutes of play into the third period.
Miami University was able to make it 9-6 shortly after, but the Maverick offense proved too much. The RedHawks never came within three points down the final 10-minute stretch of the game and UNO finished off a very exciting 11-7 win on Friday.
Saturday’s night game did not feature nearly as many goals but was equally exciting. Despite both teams having two power play opportunities in the first period, neither could score a goal and the scoreboard read 0-0 after the first 20 minutes of play.
UNO’s offense was the first to capitalize in the game, nearly eight minutes into the second period Zach Jordan was assisted by teammates Tristan Keck and Fredrik Olofsson to give the Mavs a 1-0 advantage.
UNO would then hold onto their lead for six more minutes before both Jake Randolph and Grant Gallo each added a goal of their own, making the score 3-0 with 4:13 left in the second period. The Mavericks continued to apply pressure before the end of the period with a power play opportunity when Tyler Vesel was able to score with 1:20 remaining in the second.
The RedHawks were facing a shutout at the beginning of the third and final period but scored a quick goal off the stick of Phil Knies to make it 4-1. Miami was able to hold off the Maverick offense and scored again six and a half minutes into the last period and began to show some signs of life. Knies managed to earn himself one more goal before the final buzzer, but the Mavericks were able to edge off the RedHawks 4-3 on Saturday night to finish off the conference series sweep.
UNO is now 12-9-1 on the season and will travel next weekend to Colorado where they will face off with another conference foe in Denver University. The games will take place on Friday and Saturday, January 19th and 20th, both at 8:05 p.m.
