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 Junior goalie Matt Kelly stopped 35 Maverick shots. |
Jan. 29, 2005
Omaha, Neb. - The Wayne State University men's hockey team (12-12-2 overall) suffered their second consecutive loss at 18th-ranked Nebraska-Omaha (14-10-2) falling 4-2 Saturday night at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. WSU trailed by just a goal until the final 20 seconds when UNO scored an empty-net marker. It was the first time WSU has been swept since the final weekend of the 2003-04 campaign (6-4 and 3-1 vs. Air Force on March 5-6, 2004).
The Warriors opened the scoring 5:26 into the contest as sophomore forward Nate Higgins (Calgary, Alb./Green Bay Gamblers) netted his seventh of the campaign. Freshman right wing Tylor Michel (Sudbury, Ont./Owen Sound Greys) and junior defenseman Steve Kovalchik (Riverview, Mich./Omaha Lancers) assisted on Higgins' second career first goal.
The host Mavericks tied the game at one late in the first period (18:24 mark) on a goal by Kaleb Betts.
UNO held a 15-8 advantage in shots on goal during the opening stanza.
Nebraska-Omaha took its first lead of the game just 33 seconds into the middle period on a power-play goal by Maverick leading scorer Bill Thomas.
Wayne State battled back to tie the game at the 8:52 mark of the second period on Adam Krug's (Livonia, Mich./Sioux City Musketeers) eighth goal of the season. Sophomore left wing Jason Bloomingburg (Canton, Mich./Texas Tornado) earned his first assist in the last six games on the Warrior man-advantage marker.
The Mavericks regained the lead midway through the middle stanza (9:55 mark) during a power play and a delayed penalty being called on WSU with David Phillips tallying the go-ahead marker.
Alex Nikiforuk completed the scoring with an empty-net goal in the waning seconds.
Warrior junior netminder Matt Kelly (Hull, Mass./Topeka Scarecrows) made 35 saves in the WSU cage, while Maverick goalie Chris Holt turned aside 22 Wayne State shots.
Wayne State went one-for-six with the man-advantage, while Nebraska-Omaha scored two power-play goals in seven chances.
WSU's final eight contests before the College Hockey America tournament will be against CHA foes with six of the eight games being played at the Compuware Sports Arena in Plymouth, Mich. The Warriors play their final CHA road series next weekend, Feb. 4-5, at Bemidji State. Wayne State has six consecutive home games to conclude the regular season (Feb. 12-13 vs. Niagara, Feb. 26-27 vs. Air Force, and March 5-6 vs. Alabama-Huntsville).
Notes:
WSU is now 6-7-2 on the road this year.
The Warriors are 7-3-1 when scoring the first goal.
Thirteen of Wayne State's 26 games have been decided by a goal or less with the Warriors recording a 6-5-2 mark in those contests. Twenty games have been decided by two goals or less with WSU compiling a 9-9-2 mark in those contests.
Nate Higgins has scored seven goals this year after netting eight in his rookie campaign.
Adam Krug has three goals in the last six games after a seven-game pointless streak.
The Warriors finished the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 7-7-0 mark including a 3-4-0 record in road contests.
Steve Kovalchik has an assist in seven of the last 10 games.
Wayne State is 5-6-1 when outshot by an opponent, an 0-8-1 when scoring two goals or less.
