Nebraska-Omaha Beats Minnesota 4-2 For Sweep
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- If conference newcomer Nebraska-Omaha was impressed by Minnesota's 12 Western Collegiate Hockey Association championships, they didn't show it this weekend.
For the second straight night, the Mavericks took a big lead early and made it stand up to beat Minnesota 4-2 Saturday, giving it a sweep of the Golden Gophers in their WCHA debut series.
Like they did in Friday's 5-4 win, the Mavericks (4-0-0, 2-0-0) raced out to an early lead, going up 3-0 on Matt Ambroz's goal at 16:08 of the second period. And just as they had done the night before, the Gophers (2-2-0, 0-2-0) rallied to get back in it only to fall short.
"It's unbelievable. You can't ask for anything more," UNO freshman forward Ryan Walters said.
It took just 3:10 for Matt White to give the Mavericks the lead. Zahn Raubenheimer doubled the lead at 15:50 and Ambroz staked the Mavericks to their biggest lead.
"We didn't get off to the kind of start we wanted and played from behind," Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. "To our credit, the kids kept battling back."
It was the same story Friday when Minnesota rallied from 4-0 down late in the game.
Nebraska-Omaha fired 48 shots at Minnesota goalie Alex Kangas, who made 44 saves, including 24 in the second period.
Minnesota mustered 31 shots and Mavericks goalie John Faulkner had 29 saves.
Matt White, Zahn Raubenheimer and Rich Purslow also scored for Nebraska-Omaha. Kevin Wehrs and Erik Haula netted goals for the Gophers.
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