Hockey: Former Lancer helps key Northern Michigan sweep of Mavericks

MARQUETTE, Mich. — Another strong start, another flat finish.

For the second straight game, Northern Michigan overcame an early UNO lead and pulled away late. The Wildcats rolled to a 6-3 victory on Saturday night, becoming the first team to sweep the University of Nebraska at Omaha under new coach Dean Blais.

Mark Olver, a former Omaha Lancers standout and now the leading scorer in the CCHA, put away a critical shorthanded goal, added an empty netter and also had an assist for the Wildcats. The six goals were the most the Mavs have allowed this season, and 12th-ranked UNO now has lost three straight.

During Friday’s series opener, Northern Michigan scored five straight goals and handed the Mavs a 5-1 loss.

On Saturday, the Mavs jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead behind goals from Joey Martin and Jeric Agosta. UNO dominated play during the opening 20 minutes, working out an 18-4 edge in shots on goal.

Then Northern Michigan clicked three times in the second period, with goals by Tyler Gron and Greger Hanson knotting the game 2-all. Olver’s goal at 17:19 during a UNO power play was a killer for the Mavs, and it ultimately chased redshirt freshman goalie John Faulkner, who didn’t return for the third period.

At 7:45 of the third, Alex Hudson buried his first goal of the season to knot the game back up 3-3 — but it took Northern less than a minute to strike back.

Phil Fox and Ray Kaunisto each beat Mavs goalie Jeremie Dupont within a span of 76 seconds to put the Wildcats back in control.

Olver’s ninth goal of the season at the 18:30 mark came after UNO had pulled Dupont for an extra attacker, and it locked up Northern’s six straight home victory over the Mavs.

The Mavericks entered the series with the second-ranked power play in the CCHA. But UNO went just 1 for 11 on the man advantage for the weekend, including 0 for 7 on Saturday.

The Mavs return home next weekend for a CCHA series against Western Michigan.

UNO (5-4-3, 2-4-2-1)..................2 0 1—3

At Northern Michigan (5-5-2, 4-3-1-0)..................0 3 3—6

First period: 1, UNO, Martin 5 (Kretzer, Kemp), 2:31. 2, UNO, Agosta 5 (Smith), 19:35.

Second period: 3, NMU, Gron 2 (Cherniwchan, Gustafsson), 5:30 (pp). 4, NMU, Hanson 3 (Kaunisto, Brown), 14:03. 5, UNO, Olver 8 (unassisted), 17:19 (sh).

Third period: 6, UNO, Hudson 1 (Bernier, Del Grosso), 7:45. 7, NMU, Fox 1 (Olver, Florek), 8:25. 8, NMU, Kaunisto 5 (Hanson, Pietila), 9:41. 9, NMU, Olver 9 (Hanson), 18:30 (en).

Shots on goal:

UNO 18 7 12—37

At NMU 4 13 14—31

Power plays: UNO 0 for 7; NMU 1 for 3.

Penalties-minutes: UNO 5-10; NMU 9-18.

Goalies: UNO, Faulkner (17 shots, 14 saves, 39:53); UNO, Dupont (13 shots, 11 saves, 18:19). NMU, Dupont (37 shots, 34 saves, 60:00).

Three stars: 1, Olver. 2, Kaunisto. 3, Hanson.

« Mavs

Share