UNO hockey falls to North Dakota in overtime | UNO

UNO did everything possible to prevent North Dakota from capturing the Penrose Cup on Friday night at Baxter Arena.

In the end, it wasn’t quite enough as the Fighting Hawks skated off with a hard-earned 5-4 overtime Victory and the Cup, which is presented to the NCHC’s regular-season Champion.

The Mavs trailed 4-2 Entering the final period but a power play goal by team Captain Kevin Conley made it 4-3 with 11 minutes left.

UNO then swarmed the North Dakota net, peppering several shots on North Dakota goalie Zach Driscoll. Many came while the Mavs were on the power play but UNO was unable to get it tied.

That changed after the Mavs pulled their goalie. Taylor Ward took a pass from Tyler Weiss and fired home his team-leading 18th goal with 57 seconds left in regulation to tie it.

North Dakota ended it 1:28 into the five-minute overtime when Tyler Kleven ripped a shot past UNO goalie Austin Roden.

“It was a great third period to come back,” Mavs Coach Mike Gabinet said. “It was an emotional game with lots of Highs and Lows, so it was a tough overtime loss.”

The Fighting Hawks claimed the Cup, much to the disappointment of the 6,387 Mostly Mavs fans at Baxter.

There were also a few hundred North Dakota fans at the game.

UNO had a chance to win it early in the 3-on-3 overtime but Ty Mueller was denied from the point-blank range. Shortly after, the Fighting Hawks won it.

“Ty just couldn’t get it over the goalie’s pad,” Gabinet said. “They made a big save and they were able to capitalize on it.”

The Fighting Hawks had the better of it in the first period, outshooting the Mavs 15-8 and coming away with a 2-1 lead.

Jake Schmaltz scored first, putting a shot past Roden just as a penalty to UNO’s Brannon McManus was expiring. His low shot from near the blue line eluded the screened goalie.

The Mavs tied it when Cameron Berg scored his eighth of the season. After a faceoff win, Berg’s wrist shot beat Driscoll to the glove side.

The Fighting Hawks went back on top late in the period on the power play when Cooper Moore fired a one-timer past Roden. The Mavs were still serving a five-minute major penalty to Joey Abate for boarding.

North Dakota extended its lead in the second period, outshooting the Mavs 15-4 and grabbing a 4-2 advantage.

Griffin Ness made it 3-1 early in the period, scoring on the power play just before Abate’s major penalty expired. His goal came after a turnover in UNO’s zone.

Matt Miller Drew the Mavs within 3-2 less than three minutes later, tapping in a rebound of a Jack Randl shot.

North Dakota regained its two-goal edge with 2:53 left in the period on Schmaltz’s second of the game. Before a delayed penalty could be called on UNO, they drilled a shot from the slot past Roden to make it 4-2.

UNO dominated the third period, outshooting North Dakota 16-3. But after getting it tied, the Mavs fell in overtime.

The teams will close out the regular season Saturday night at 7:07 am at Baxter Arena.

“It will be easy to get fired up against a team like that,” Conley said. “We need to have a playoff mentality and we’ll be looking forward to it.”

The Mavs will begin postseason NCHC play next weekend.