No. 9 Omaha To Play No. 8/10 Harvard In Regional
Mar 27, 2015 | Hockey
This Week
The No. 9 Omaha Mavericks begin play in the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship when they face No. 8/10 Harvard on Saturday, March 28 at 6:30 p.m. CT in the second semifinal of the Midwest Regional at the Compton Family Ice Arena at Notre Dame.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 18-12-6 overall this season, and they finished 12-8-4-3 in the NCHC. Their third-place finish matches the best in school history. The Mavericks were 11-7-2 at home this season and 7-5-4 on the road. They did not play any neutral site games this year.
Harvard is 21-12-3 overall and finished 11-8-3 in ECAC Hockey, good for sixth place. The Crimson went on to win the ECAC Playoff championship with a 4-2 win over Colgate on March 21. Harvard was 8-4-2 at home, 11-5-1 on the road and 2-3-0 in neutral site games this season.
The Mavericks in the NCAA Tournament
This is the third time Mavericks have earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament, their second time under Coach Dean Blais. Their last appearance came in 2011 when they were a three seed and lost to Michigan, 3-2 in overtime at St. Louis, Mo. The first appearance was 2006 under former head coach Mike Kemp when, as a four seed, they lost to Boston University, 9-2, at Worcester, Mass.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks haven't played since their NCHC playoff quarterfinal series against St. Cloud State on March 13-14. The Huskies won 2-0 in the best-of-three series to eliminate the Mavericks. In the series opener, SCSU opened the scoring with a goal from David Morley at 14:02 of the first, but the Mavericks responded when Austin Ortega tallied a shorthanded goal at 9:43 of the second. The teams then played into the second overtime before Morley ended the game at 89:49. Kirk Thompson stopped 30 shots for Omaha in relief of starter Ryan Massa who was lifted in the first period.
In the second game, the Huskies got out to a 2-0 lead with goals in the first and second period. Grant Gallo drew the Mavericks to within one on a powerplay goal at 16:44 of the third, but SCSU's Joey Benik restored the two-goal lead just 53 seconds later and the Huskies held on for the win. Thompson made 25 saves.
The Coaches
Dean Blais is in his sixth year as the head coach of the Mavericks, having led UNO to two 20-win campaigns in that time. The 1973 graduate of Minnesota has posted a record of 371-213-57 (.623) in his career as a head coach and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 109-98-24 (.524). He coached in his 200th game at UNO on Oct. 31 at Cornell.
Blais is a two-time Spencer Penrose Memorial Award winner as the Division I coach of the year and a four-time winner of the WCHA's Coach of the Year Award. He spent 10 years as head coach at North Dakota where he led UND to national championships in 1997 and 2000. He is assisted by coaches Troy Jutting and Alex Todd who both have extensive head coaching experience, Jutting at Minnesota State and Todd at Castleton (Vt.) State.
Ted Donato is in his 11th season as head coach of the Crimson. The 1991 Harvard graduate is 157-168-42 all-time at his alma mater. He is assisted by associate head coach Paul Pearl and assistant Rob Rassey.
Media
All post-season games can be heard live on 1180 The Zone 2. Dave Ahlers will have the play-by-play, and Lester St. James will handle the color commentary. Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show. Live audio and stats are available at OMavs.com. The game can be seen live on ESPN3. Ben Holden will call the action, and Blake Geoffrion will provide analysis.
Up Next For the Mavericks
If the Mavericks win the semifinal against Harvard, they will advance to the regional final game on Sunday, March 29 against the winner of the other regional semifinal between Minnesota State and RIT.
The No. 9 Omaha Mavericks begin play in the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship when they face No. 8/10 Harvard on Saturday, March 28 at 6:30 p.m. CT in the second semifinal of the Midwest Regional at the Compton Family Ice Arena at Notre Dame.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 18-12-6 overall this season, and they finished 12-8-4-3 in the NCHC. Their third-place finish matches the best in school history. The Mavericks were 11-7-2 at home this season and 7-5-4 on the road. They did not play any neutral site games this year.
Harvard is 21-12-3 overall and finished 11-8-3 in ECAC Hockey, good for sixth place. The Crimson went on to win the ECAC Playoff championship with a 4-2 win over Colgate on March 21. Harvard was 8-4-2 at home, 11-5-1 on the road and 2-3-0 in neutral site games this season.
The Mavericks in the NCAA Tournament
This is the third time Mavericks have earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament, their second time under Coach Dean Blais. Their last appearance came in 2011 when they were a three seed and lost to Michigan, 3-2 in overtime at St. Louis, Mo. The first appearance was 2006 under former head coach Mike Kemp when, as a four seed, they lost to Boston University, 9-2, at Worcester, Mass.
Last Time Out
The Mavericks haven't played since their NCHC playoff quarterfinal series against St. Cloud State on March 13-14. The Huskies won 2-0 in the best-of-three series to eliminate the Mavericks. In the series opener, SCSU opened the scoring with a goal from David Morley at 14:02 of the first, but the Mavericks responded when Austin Ortega tallied a shorthanded goal at 9:43 of the second. The teams then played into the second overtime before Morley ended the game at 89:49. Kirk Thompson stopped 30 shots for Omaha in relief of starter Ryan Massa who was lifted in the first period.
In the second game, the Huskies got out to a 2-0 lead with goals in the first and second period. Grant Gallo drew the Mavericks to within one on a powerplay goal at 16:44 of the third, but SCSU's Joey Benik restored the two-goal lead just 53 seconds later and the Huskies held on for the win. Thompson made 25 saves.
The Coaches
Dean Blais is in his sixth year as the head coach of the Mavericks, having led UNO to two 20-win campaigns in that time. The 1973 graduate of Minnesota has posted a record of 371-213-57 (.623) in his career as a head coach and has guided the Mavericks to a mark of 109-98-24 (.524). He coached in his 200th game at UNO on Oct. 31 at Cornell.
Blais is a two-time Spencer Penrose Memorial Award winner as the Division I coach of the year and a four-time winner of the WCHA's Coach of the Year Award. He spent 10 years as head coach at North Dakota where he led UND to national championships in 1997 and 2000. He is assisted by coaches Troy Jutting and Alex Todd who both have extensive head coaching experience, Jutting at Minnesota State and Todd at Castleton (Vt.) State.
Ted Donato is in his 11th season as head coach of the Crimson. The 1991 Harvard graduate is 157-168-42 all-time at his alma mater. He is assisted by associate head coach Paul Pearl and assistant Rob Rassey.
Media
All post-season games can be heard live on 1180 The Zone 2. Dave Ahlers will have the play-by-play, and Lester St. James will handle the color commentary. Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show. Live audio and stats are available at OMavs.com. The game can be seen live on ESPN3. Ben Holden will call the action, and Blake Geoffrion will provide analysis.
Up Next For the Mavericks
If the Mavericks win the semifinal against Harvard, they will advance to the regional final game on Sunday, March 29 against the winner of the other regional semifinal between Minnesota State and RIT.
Players Mentioned
Monday, October 05
Tuesday, September 01
Wednesday, August 26
Friday, August 21
