OMAHA, Neb. — A pretty even game through two periods turned on a five-minute stretch to start the third period Friday night.
Well, to be fair, a stretch of 5:01 to start the third period.
13 seconds into the third, Zac Urdahl scored short-side from a sharp-ish angle on the right wing to give Omaha a 2-1 lead. It was a rush play that looked potentially offsides, but UMD chose not to challenge (we didn’t get a lot of looks, basically the same looks anyone watching on NCHC.tv saw, and my summation was a challenge there would likely not have been successful).
Just short of the five-minute mark, Carter Loney took an unnecessary boarding penalty along the UMD bench. Despite starting the power play with a faceoff win and a clear, UMD allowed Omaha too much speed through the middle of the ice. The Mavericks got numbers down low and converted with a Jimmy Glynn tap-in goal to make it 3-1.
UMD threw everything it had at Omaha goalie Simon Latkoczy, including eight shots on a power play in the third period (that doesn’t account for at least three posts hit, including Anthony Menghini on a high tip and Zam Plante during the power play on what was mostly an open net). Nothing doing, and Urdahl threw one the length of the ice into the empty net to seal the game.
All in all, not a terrible performance from UMD, but way too loose at times defensively, and the Bulldogs didn’t start the first or third periods particularly well.
In a league where the margins are only getting thinner, that was enough to send the three points to the home team on Friday.
Freshman Adam Gajan makes his first start/appearance since Nov. 23. He was felled by an ankle injury during UMD’s Thanksgiving weekend bye and was not in uniform again for a game until Denver weekend. Up front, Matthew Perkins sits, while Luke Bast comes out of the lineup on the back end. UMD opts to dress 13 forwards, inserting Harper Bentz (first game since Jan. 11, when he left in the first period with an upper body injury) and Braden Fischer.
No changes for Omaha.
Lines?
Lines.
UMD forwards
Molenaar – James – Loney
Plante (Max) – Plante (Zam) – Shaugabay
Menghini – Smith – Bettens
Bentz – Arnott – Bechen
Fischer
UMD defense
Pionk – Dubinsky
Gallatin – Kleber
Hanson – Pierce
UMD goalies
Gajan – Knapp – Sandy
Omaha forwards
Rollwagen – Glynn – Bremer
Urdahl – Mitchell – Stange
Hilman – Israels – Risk
Lurie – Watkins – Slipec
Omaha defense
Gratton – Krenzen
Ludtke – Guevin
Gramer – Ellis
Broberg
(Omaha lists Alexi Van Houtte-Cachero as an extra skater for warmup, he or someone in the lineup will be scratched.)
Omaha goalies
Latkoczy – Reidler – Craig
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