Broncos Nip Mavericks Late, 4-3

Friday, February 1

Omaha, Neb.

7:07 p.m.

Omaha

7-16-2, 3-11-1-0/1

Western Michigan

16-8-1, 9-5-1-0/1

Team	1	2	3	F
Western Michigan	0	3	1	4
Omaha	1	1	1	3

Senior Evan Weninger makes a pad saves on Western Michigan's Drew Worrad during the Broncos' 4-3 win on Friday night.

Broncos Nip Mavericks Late, 4-3

Feb 1, 2019 | Hockey

Box Score

OMAHA, Neb. – No. 8 Western Michigan scored a power play goal with 13.7 seconds remaining in regulation to hand the Omaha hockey team a 4-3 loss on Friday in the series opener at Baxter Arena.

Papillion, Neb. native Ethen Frank netted his second goal of the game to give the Broncos a win after they had surrendered the lead in the third period.

Omaha fell to 7-16-2 overall and 3-11-1-0/1 in the NCHC, keeping it in eighth place. The Broncos improved to 16-8-1 overall and 9-5-1-0/1 in the conference.

Trailing 3-2 entering the third, the Mavericks tied the game at 14:47 when Travis Kothenbeutel fired a shot just under the crossbar for his second goal of the season.

Omaha pulled Evan Weninger for an extra attacker and had its best chance when defenseman Dean Stewart fired a shot just wide of the near post as time wound down.

Weninger finished with 32 saves while WMU's Trevor Gorsuch stopped 27 as the Broncos outshot the Mavericks, 36-30.

The Mavericks led 1-0 after the first period on Mason Morelli's 15th goal of the year. He fired home a pass from Fredrik Olofsson at 3:53. Initially, the goal was waved off after Taylor Ward collided with Gorsuch. But a video review showed that Ward had been pushed into Gorsuch, and the goal stood.

Omaha doubled its lead on a power play early in the second period. Taylor Ward deflected home a ricochet from Zach Jordan for his seventh goal of the year at 4:32.

The Broncos would then reel off three straight to take the lead before the intermission. The go-ahead goal came with just .3 seconds remaining when Frank fired home a pass from Hugh McGing.

The season series concludes on Saturday at 7:07 p.m.

GAME NOTES:

Kothenbeutel's goal was his first since scoring against Arizona State on Nov. 23.
Olofsson led all UNO scorers with two assists.
The game was the third straight 4-3 decision played at Baxter Arena. The Mavericks split a series with North Dakota on Jan. 18-19 with each team winning by the same score.
The Mavericks were 1-for-6 on the power play while the Broncos were 2-for-4.
Western Michigan finished with a 23-8 advantage in blocked shots.

Three stars: 1. Ethen Frank/WMU – Two goals; 2. Colt Conrad/WMU – Two assists; 3. Fredrik Olofsson/Omaha – Two assists