Hockey: Mavs bounce back against Spartans

EAST LANSING, Mich. — This shootout not only went off without a hitch, it also went the UNO hockey team’s way.

Coming off its first loss of the season, the University of Nebraska at Omaha bounced back with a strong showing Friday night, working out a 4-3 shootout win over No. 17 Michigan State.

The Mavs used goals in regulation from Matt Ambroz, Brent Gwidt and Joey Martin to earn the tie and one point in the CCHA standings. In the shootout, senior goalie Jeremie Dupont stopped three of the Spartans’ four attempts, while John Kemp and Terry Broadhurst both scored during the final two rounds to give UNO the bonus league point.

It was the Mavs’ first shootout since their controversial outcome last weekend against Bowling Green, when the Falcons used an ineligible shooter to break a tie at Qwest Center Omaha. The Spartans blanked UNO 3-0 during Thursday’s series opener, but the Mavs rebounded Friday to become the first team this year to avoid losing at Munn Arena.

“We really were better in pretty much every area tonight,” said UNO coach Dean Blais, whose team outshot the Spartans 32-25 Friday. “We played a much more intense game tonight, and the way we competed gave us a chance to be successful. There was probably justice in what we got last night and also justice in what we got tonight.”

Blais did say, however, that the Mavs misfired on some shots that could’ve allowed them to win the game outright. But Dupont didn’t miss often as he made 22 saves to improve to 1-0-1. The senior goalie stopped Michigan State’s Andrew Rowe on a breakaway and robbed CCHA scoring leader Corey Tropp during a 2-on-1 rush.

Dupont also made a critical save on Nick Sucharski that kept the shootout going and set up the scores by Kemp and Broadhurst.

“I thought it was a really good team effort, and we probably deserved a better fate in this one,” said Dupont, who’s now 4-1 in shootouts at UNO. “This is a really tough place to play, but I think we did a good job tonight of just playing our game.”

The Mavs also got a dominant performance from defenseman Eddie Del Grosso, who earned the game’s No. 2 star. Del Grosso finished with only one assist, but he used his elusive skating and stickhandling to create a number of quality chances for the Mavs.

“They played better and worked harder,” Michigan State coach Rick Comley said of the Mavs. “They didn’t seem to have their jump last night.”

The Spartans took a 1-0 lead midway through the opening period. On the play, a mass of skaters zoomed toward UNO’s net during a Michigan State rush. Mike Merrifield got credit for the goal, but the puck appeared to deflect past Dupont off the skate of teammate Jeric Agosta.

UNO controlled the action during the opening 20 minutes, and it was less than two minutes later when Ambroz knotted the score 1-all during a Mavs power play. Broadhurst found Ambroz in front of the net, and Ambroz banged a shot past Drew Palmisano for UNO’s first goal of the series.

Early in the second, Chris Forfar put the Spartans ahead 2-1, then Gwidt tied it back up with a surprise, spinning shot that snuck past Palmisano. Gwidt’s goal came off an assist from fellow rookie Brandon Richardson, with both players collecting their first collegiate points on the play.

Later in that period, Michigan State’s Dean Chelios was whistled for a game-misconduct, checking-from-behind penalty. On UNO’s ensuing five-minute power play, Del Grosso — who absorbed the nasty hit that got Chelios booted from the game — set up a racing Martin with a long pass that zipped through the neutral zone. Martin took the feed in stride and beat Palmisano on a breakaway for his third goal of the season.

Sucharski’s power-play goal at 8:04 of the third period tied the game and closed the scoring for the night.

Palmisano, a former Omaha Lancers goalie who got his first college shutout Thursday, came up big often enough again Friday to prevent UNO from grabbing all three league points.

The Mavs return home for another CCHA series next weekend, when they’ll host Lake Superior State at Qwest Center Omaha.

UNO (4-1-3, 1-1-2-1)..............1 2 0 0—3

At Michigan State (7-2-2, 4-1-1-0 )..............1 1 1 0—3

First period: 1, MSU, Merrifield 2 (Shelgren), 10:00. 2, UNO, Ambroz 2 (Broadhurst, Martin), 11:53 (pp).

Second period: 3, MSU, Forfar 3 (Merrifield, Golembiewski), 1:53. 4, UNO, Gwidt 1 (Richardson, Willert), 5:34. 5, UNO, Martin 3 (Del Grosso, Dupont), 13:06 (pp).

Third period: 6, MSU, Sucharski 2 (Grant, Petry), 8:04 (pp).

Overtime: None.

Shots on goal:

UNO...................13 7 10 2—32

At MSU..............7 8 9 1—25

Power plays: UNO 2 for 9; MSU 1 for 4.

Penalties-minutes: UNO 5-10; MSU 10-31.

Goalies: UNO, Dupont (25 shots, 22 saves, 65:00). MSU, Palmisano (32 shots, 29 saves, 65:00).

Three stars: 1, Broadhurst. 2, Del Grosso. 3, Sucharski.

Attendance: 4,147.

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