It’s strange to think the hottest home form in the country, at this point in the season, belongs to a team on the outside looking in with regards to a NCAA tournament bid.
But as paradoxical as that is for Omaha, 27th in the PairWise rankings with a month left in the regular season, it should also be food for thought for the Mavericks’ upcoming opponents.
UNO’s 4-1 home win Friday over Minnesota Duluth, paired with a 5-2 Mavericks victory on Saturday, saw them bump their current home winning streak to seven games. The Mavs have additionally won eight consecutive NCHC games on home ice, also tops among all teams this season.
The Mavericks haven’t lost at home in this calendar year. You’d have to go back to Dec. 13, in the first game of a series against nonconference opponent Lindenwood, to find the last time UNO tasted defeat at Baxter Arena.
“I think one of the words we’ve been using a lot throughout the season is ‘growth,’ and it’s always nice to see the individual growth, that collective growth, take place in the second half of the season,” Mavericks coach Mike Gabinet said.
“Our approach has stayed very consistent, very similar and I think that’s one of the things that’s important to do, whether you’re successful or you’re battling adversity. You want to stay consistent with how you approach things and your day-to-day focus, and I think that has served us really well.”
Two Zach Urdahl goals Friday helped UNO put away a Duluth team that was two weeks removed from a creditable home split with defending national champion Denver, in two one-goal games. On Saturday, the Bulldogs outshot UNO 52-29 but conceded goals to four different UNO skaters — Brady Risk scored two, giving him three for the weekend — but were left frustrated by reigning NCHC goaltender of the month, Simon Latkoczy. The junior now has five games this season with 40 or more saves, and two with 50-plus.
“He’s been fantastic,” Gabinet said. “Your goalie is going to have to make a couple key saves in certain key moments of the game, and he has done that consistently for us. To see his growth, too, even from last season to this year, he’s constantly getting better and he’s been tremendous for us here all season long.”
UNO was fresh off its own series with Denver, facing the Pioneers in their own building. After the Mavericks took a conference-record 16-round overtime shootout Jan. 31, they scored the first two goals the following night but went on to lose 11-2.
“Hold on to the two big points we got there, and move on from the loss on Saturday,” Gabinet said when asked what he wanted his team to take from that series in Colorado, heading into the UMD games.
“I think that’s part of the ups and downs you’ll go through during the season. You’re going to have some big wins and then you’ll have some losses, and it’s all about how you respond to the situation that you’re put in, and I thought our team did a great job on Monday of getting back to work and finding ways to improve our team.”
UNO has six games left in the regular season, four of them on the road. After visiting third-ranked Western Michigan this weekend, the Mavericks will have one last week off before hosting No. 10 Arizona State Feb. 28 and March 1, before wrapping up at No. 17 North Dakota the following weekend.
“We’ll maintain our consistency in how we do things,” Gabinet said of his team’s approach the rest of the way. “We don’t really change much week-to-week, and obviously we’re preparing a certain way for the opponent we face that weekend, but just keeping that belief, keeping that growth mindset, keeping that work and doing-the-work mentality and following that process.
“We’ve got good guys who are committed to being coached and learning, who want to be coached and want to find ways to improve. They’re taking personal responsibility to get better, and it’s just really been fun to watch the guys’ improvement from the start of the year until now. It’s been tremendous.”
