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It wasn't perfect. But it was exactly what UNO needed.
The No. 19 Mavericks almost wasted a three-goal lead Friday night against Western Michigan. But 18 seconds after the Broncos knotted the game, Alex Hudson scored the game winner with less than five minutes left in regulation, lifting UNO to a 4-3 victory.
The University of Nebraska at Omaha snapped its three-game losing streak and avoided another letdown after completely dominating the first period.
Hudson scored twice and had an assist, while Dan Swanson buried his first goal of the season and set up rookie Brandon Richardson's score. Those three all clicked within the game's opening 13 minutes, and UNO outshot the Broncos 17-7 during the first period.
“I thought with a 3-0 lead it was going to be a little easier,” UNO coach Dean Blais said. “(Western's) first goal was what I considered a soft goal, but at 3-1 there was no panic. We were controlling the game, then they scored again and the game's in jeopardy.”
Jeremie Dupont started in net for UNO, and the senior goalie allowed Derek Roehl's shot to drift between his legs in the first period. Western made it 3-1 midway through the second when Chris Clackson deflected a quick shot from teammate Dane Walters past Dupont.
Blais didn't send Dupont back out for the third period, replacing him with redshirt freshman John Faulkner. But Faulkner couldn't stop J.J. Crew from tying the game at the 15:06 mark.
Blais has not been particularly happy with the play of either of UNO's goalies during the past two weeks. Overall, the coach said, he liked the way his team played Friday night. But after Dupont shut out Lake Superior State on Nov. 13, the senior has not followed up that effort with the type of steady play Blais wants to see.
“I'm looking for one of them to step forward and be the No. 1 goaltender,” said Blais, who announced Faulkner as his starter for tonight's 7:05 series finale. “But three losses in a row — you start questioning your overall team performance, but I thought we made less mistakes tonight than we did (during the three-game losing streak).”
Fortunately, Hudson didn't wait long to put the Mavs back on top. The sophomore's goal, assisted by Matt Ambroz, came at 15:25. Hudson hustled the puck around the net, moved in front and forced a shot into the crease. The puck pin-balled off Western goalie Riley Gill, then deflected into the net off the skate of the Broncos' Clackson.
“I got a little lucky, but the whole theme is to crash the net,” Hudson said. “This win was huge for us, and I think we realize that every game from here on out is big. We won a lot early in the season. Now we want to get back to doing that and make it a habit.”
The line of Swanson, Hudson and Ambroz enjoyed a fantastic game. Richardson also skated with Swanson and Hudson at times. But those four played a high-energy brand of hockey all night, and not surprisingly, they had a hand in all four of UNO's goals.
“We all just worked really hard, kept going to the net, and good things happened for us tonight,” Swanson said.
The Mavs, who have yet to sweep a CCHA series during Blais' debut season, will try to accomplish that mission tonight. Gill stopped a number of other quality UNO chances Friday, but Blais said he still wants to see his team improve at burying its opportunities.
Western Michigan (5-6-2, 1-6-2-1)..................1 1 1—3
At UNO (6-4-3, 3-4-2-1)...................3 0 1—4
First period: 1, UNO, Swanson 1 (Kemp, Hudson), 2:04. 2, UNO, Hudson 2 (Bernier, Richardson), 6:44. 3, UNO, Richardson 2 (Del Grosso, Swanson), 12:43. 4, WMU, Roehl 2 (Squiers, Campbell), 13:03.
Second period: 5, WMU, Clackson 4 (Walters, Watson), 15:38.
Third period: 6, WMU, Crew 5 (Katz, Squires), 15:06. 7, UNO, Hudson 3 (Ambroz), 15:24.
Shots on goal:
WMU ............. 7 12 7 -- 26
At UNO ....... 17 10 10 -- 37
Power plays: WMU 0 for 4; UNO 0 for 2.
Penalties-minutes: WMU 4-8; UNO 6-12.
Goalies: WMU, Gill (37 shots, 33 saves, 59:29). UNO, Dupont (19 shots, 17 saves, 40:00); Faulkner (7 shots, 6 saves, 20:00).
Three stars: 1, Hudson. 2, Swanson. 3, Richardson.
Attendance: 5,070.
Contact the writer:
444-1207, chad.purcell@owh.com
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