BIG RAPIDS, Mich. — It's easy to look ahead and see a bright future for the UNO hockey team.

It's just not easy to look ahead yet.

No. 13 Ferris State ended the University of Nebraska at Omaha's season Saturday night, handing the Mavericks one of their most painful losses in program history. The Bulldogs' Casey Haines scored the winning goal just 23 seconds into overtime, closing the books on UNO's first season under coach Dean Blais.

As the Mavs filed out of their locker room, the look on their faces said it all. With sullen faces and red, watery eyes, UNO's skaters still didn't seem to know how to cope with how suddenly their NCAA tournament dreams had been dashed.

“Maybe in a few weeks we'll start thinking about (what lies ahead),” said UNO's Terry Broadhurst, a promising young forward who was named to the CCHA's all-rookie team. “But right now, it's kind of tough to look past what just happened. We worked so hard this year, and we weren't expecting to be done in the second round. It hurts, and I feel so bad for our older guys.”

There have been tough losses in the past for UNO, but none quite like this. During the Mavs' 11 years in the CCHA, they'd never been eliminated from the playoffs in overtime. What was even more painful, however, was that the first and only shot of OT ended up behind goalie John Faulkner.

The teams had spent the previous period-and-a-half battling back and forth with the score knotted 2-all, and neither Faulkner nor Ferris goalie Pat Nagle gave an inch. Bulldogs coach Bob Daniels felt relieved that the game even went to OT — because he said UNO was playing to win while his team looked like it was afraid to lose.

Regardless, both teams were stunned when the game ended in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

“It really hit everyone pretty hard, the way it ended so fast like that,” said senior Eddie Del Grosso, who leaves UNO with 109 career points — the most by any defenseman in program history. “I thought we were playing pretty well. It's just a shock for everybody that it's all over. Especially for us seniors, four years have gone by, and then just like that, it's all over.”

That's the biggest jolt for Del Grosso and his six classmates. During UNO's final season in the CCHA, those seven became the first group of Mavs to have their careers end in a sudden-death loss.

Del Grosso and his fellow seniors — goalie Jeremie Dupont, defenseman Mark Bernier, and forwards Jeric Agosta, JJ Koehler, Nick Fanto and Dan Swanson — all played huge roles in helping UNO win 10 of its final 16 games.

They set a winning tone during Blais' first season, and the Mavs' 20-16-6 finish was the program's best in five years.

“We're certainly going to miss the seven seniors — they gave us all kinds of leadership,” Blais said. “But there are a lot of guys coming back who give us the foundation for the future. Looking at our balanced scoring, that's a real positive throughout the year, and most of those guys are back.”

UNO is set to return eight players who had 17 or more points this year: Broadhurst, Rich Purslow, John Kemp, Joey Martin, Alex Hudson, Matt Ambroz, Eric Olimb and Brandon Richardson.

The Mavs' list of incoming freshmen includes USHL standouts Matt White (Omaha Lancers) and Brock Montpetit (Waterloo Black Hawks). Goalie Mike Taffe, who will join UNO after starring with Fairbanks of the NAHL, also is expected to compete for playing time next season as Blais' team moves to the WCHA.

Looking back on his first year, Blais said it was clear by the end of the season that the Mavs were good enough to compete with any team in the country.

There's a lot for UNO to feel good about looking ahead, Blais said. And if the Mavs already didn't have enough motivation for next season, Broadhurst said Saturday's loss should make the team even hungrier.

“This is a feeling we're going to remember — one we don't want to feel again,” Broadhurst said. “We worked hard this year to win a championship. We're going to have that same mentality from here on out.”

Contact the writer:

444-1207, chad.purcell@owh.com

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