The Mavericks dropped another heartbreaker to the Denver Pioneers, suffering their third home series sweep of the season. On senior night at Baxter Arena, it was freshman Jeremy Loranger who provided the lone spark for Omaha, scoring the team’s only goal and earning third-star honors. Once again, Omaha’s special teams offered a small bright spot, converting on the power play and holding Denver scoreless on four opportunities. But one goal won’t win many games, and Denver did more than enough to secure a 3-1 victory.
The first period was tense and tightly contested. Neither team wanted to make the first mistake, resulting in a scoreless frame. Both sides had power-play chances but failed to capitalize. Denver narrowly outshot Omaha 9-8, but strong goaltending on both ends kept the game even.
The pace picked up in the second period. Just 9:43 into the frame, Denver broke through when Hagen Burrows’ shot bounced awkwardly and slipped past Simon Latkoczy. Omaha responded with a power play after a Denver tripping penalty. As the advantage was about to expire, Loranger took a pass from Griffin Ludtke and blasted a one-timer into the top corner, tying the game with 7:47 remaining in the period. The Mavericks later killed off a five-on-three Denver power play to keep the score level heading into the third.
Freshman forward Jeremy Loranger.
Denver regained the lead just 1:22 into the final period. A feed from Samu Salminen left Reiger Lorenz alone in the slot, and he beat Latkoczy one-on-one to make it 2-1. Omaha pressed for the equalizer, including a strong chance from Spencer Sova on the power play, but Johnny Hicks came up with a highlight-reel save to preserve the lead. Denver sealed the win with an empty-net goal from Jake Fischer with 31 seconds remaining.
“Yeah, that’s a frustrating one,” coach Mike Gabinet said. “I thought we played a solid game. Obviously, just a couple of mistakes, and they capitalized on them. But we pushed hard, and the guys really competed to try to tie the game. We had a lot of chances in the third; we just couldn’t get one to go.”
Sophomore forward Brett Hyland.
Omaha falls to 10-20 overall and 6-14 in the NCHC. The Mavericks travel to Arizona State next weekend for two must-win games if they hope to keep their NCHC tournament chances alive.
