OMAHA, Neb. — Coming into the New Year, Omaha was undefeated at home and riding a three-game winning streak and Miami had lost five of its last six games.
Saturday night’s contest spelled out what’s happened since in 2016 as Miami defeated Omaha 7-3 to sweep the Mavericks.
The RedHawks got the first goal again in what has been Omaha’s kryptonite this season. Conor Lemirande, who came into the night with zero points on the season, put Miami on the board at 15:58 in the first period.
He later scored two more for a hat trick in what became a highlight game for the sophomore.
“It was nice to be able to contribute,” Lemirande said. “It’s awesome.”
The RedHawks collectively scored six goals in the second period, the most ever allowed by an Omaha team in one period, to get out to an early 3-0 lead. The previous mark allowed by Omaha was five, which came at the sticks of Miami twice.
For the RedHawks, it was about capitalizing on their chances, as they were outshot by the Mavericks 30-27 despite the outcome.
“I thought tonight we got a good jump in the first period,” Miami coach Enrico Blasi said. “Obviously, getting the first goal is huge. I thought we were opportunistic on our chances and I thought our penalty killers did a good job.”
Goaltender Kirk Thompson got the start in net for the Mavericks. And through frustrations, which included stick jabbing, constant shoving inside the crease, and seven goals allowed, played the entire game. While freshman Evan Weninger, who is still No. 2 in the country in save percentage, has been sidelined with an injury, Alex Blankenburg was on the bench and available, coming off his 3-1 loss last night.
“This was a chance for Kirky [Thompson] to step up and play,” said Omaha coach Dean Blais. “I’m sure he felt that the players just gave up on him. Yeah, maybe he should have one here and there. That first goal was a wraparound he didn’t adjust very well to, but that first goal shouldn’t make the difference in just a total collapse by a team.”
Omaha brought it within two to make it 3-1 when Mason Morelli tapped in a rebound from Ryan Galt at 8:06 in the second. But Miami went on to score four more in a row, including a pair from Lemirande and goals from Anthony Louis and Zach LaVelle.
Omaha’s Ian Brady scored late in the period from the blue line and Morelli got another to start the third at 4:06, but it was at the point where Blais said “the game was over.”
The Mavericks have now lost five of their last six, including getting swept on their last two home series. The team message was simple – it’s unacceptable.
“I’ve experienced games like this both as a player and as a coach, and when it goes bad, it goes real bad,” Blais said. “Sometimes a really bad loss is good for you, not now, not at this time of the year. But we didn’t build this arena, people didn’t sacrifice what they have over our 20 years, to let this happen tonight, we can’t just crumble.”
For the RedHawks, adjusting their focus has resulted in major way.
“We changed our focus a little bit, from being more results to more playing for each other and just trying to get better every period,” said captain Sean Kuraly. “That’s a lot more [of a] lofty goal than just trying to get wins you’ve got be good on every shift, so that’s our focus from here on out.”
While Omaha has guys battling injuries and a flu bug, the hope is to overcome the up-and-down nature of NCHC play like they did last season to get back on track.
“It’s embarrassing, from the coaches to the staff all the way down to the players,” Blais said. “That can’t happen. It’s not allowable in our building, and we’re going to rectify it. We’ll fix it.”
