Lake Superior State defeated Nebraska-Omaha 5-2 Saturday night to complete a two-game sweep of the visiting Mavericks.
“I thought the game was very physical. They came out with a mission to take the game to us physically,” Lakers coach Scott Borek said. “We played very physical, but a little less than we did last night in the first two periods. In the third period, I thought we played very well physically and that’s when the game came back to us.”
Sophomore Aaron Davis started the scoring for the Lakers with a shorthanded goal at the 13:39 mark of the first period. Sophomore Aaron Phillips then added another shorthanded goal early in the second to put Lake State up 2-0.
“The penalty kill was the biggest thing out of this weekend. Last weekend we were embarrassed on the penalty kill and this weekend obviously the penalty kill was critical in us winning both games,” said Borek. “The highlight of my night was how good our penalty killing was.”
It looked as though the momentum would turn in favor of the Mavericks when Kyle O’Keefe and Zach Schribner netted two consecutive goals for UNO in the second period to tie the game at two.
After being outshot by the Mavericks during the first two periods, Lake Superior took control in third, outshooting UNO 20-8 and scoring three more goals. Phillips added his second of the evening at the 2:36 mark, while Yevgeniy Dubravin sent the puck past UNO netminder Dan Ellis at 19:03.
“Phillips is a great one-on-one player,” Borek said. “He really makes some great moves on goaltenders. He is very creative from the blue line and I thought he showed that tonight.”
Jason Nightingale then scored an empty-net goal with 31 seconds remaining in the game. Nightingale’s goal, his seventh of the season wrapped up the Lakers’ sweep.
Ellis finished the game with 30 saves, while Lakers goaltender Jayme Platt recorded 33. Platt is 4-4-0 overall and Lake State is 4-0 at home. The Lakers will wrap up a four-game home stretch next weekend against Ohio State.
The Mavericks are 4-4-0 overall and 3-3-0 in the CCHA. UNO will visit UMass-Amherst for a non-conference contest next weekend.
