Nebraska-Omaha goalie Ryan Massa and teammates have embodied a title throughout their 7-2-2 start and 5-0-2 away record: “road warriors.”
Friday night, Massa and the Mavericks continued to back that up.
After both sides finished regulation and overtime tied 2-2, Massa made three penalty saves and senior captain Dominic Zombo scored on UNO’s third penalty shot to give the Mavs a shootout win over No. 2 North Dakota.
The first period started slowly for both sides, as UNO fought through the first five minutes with only one shot, but momentum began to shift when UNO’s Grant Gallo and UND’s Stephane Pattyn were whistled for roughing following a small scrum in the UNO zone.
Soon after, Austin Ortega and Jake Guentzel broke loose toward the opposing zone and as Guentzel rushed the net, he was cross checked by Troy Stecher.
The penalty gave the Mavs the first power play of the game, but the Fighting Sioux smothered UNO and the Mavs failed to get any attempts until the final ticks of the penalty.
“A really hard fought game in a lot of areas, a game in the trenches,” UND coach Dave Haskol said.
In the second period, both teams broke the game open less than 30 seconds apart.
At 7:43, UND’s Gage Ausmus rifled a shot from just beyond the blue line that dinged down off the cross pipe and just over the goal line for the goal.
On the next possession, the Mavs answered. UNO’s Jake Randolph had the puck behind the net and threw a wraparound pass to Tyler Vesel, who slung a shot that went top shelf and put the Mavs back even.
At 17:16, UNO jumped ahead when Justin Parizek sniped one from beyond the circle that deflected off of a UND defenseman’s stick into the net.
The Parizek, Randolph, Vesel line contributed on both scores tonight, adding to their pedigree as one of the strongest lines this season for UNO.
“They’re playing unbelievable; Vesel, Randolph, Parizek are probably one of our best lines right now,” Zombo said. “Top to bottom defensively, offensively, they’re showing up every single night, they’re putting their best foot forward and they’re helping us win every single game.”
At 3:00 in the third period, UND’s Luke Johnson dug a pass out from behind the net that got to Nick Schmaltz, who fired a quick shot that beat Massa low for the equalizer.
From 17:00 on in the third, both teams had continuous chances that were inches away from being the go-ahead goal, as both goaltenders scrambled to hold on for the final horn.
“A lot of things were even, the shots, the number of penalties, pipes; I think we hit three posts, they hit two,” UNO coach Dean Blais said.
In overtime, UNO bombarded McIntyre with shots, but UND had its late chances too.
In the Mavs first shootout this year, Massa came up big. Both Austin Ortega and Jake Guentzel missed their first shots on the shootout. On the other end, UNO had no worries. Massa stopped all three with two pad saves and a glove save on the third.
“That was Massa too; he came over the bench and said ‘I got it, I got it, they’re not scoring,'” Blais said. “That’s confidence.”
Zombo was the third Maverick up with a chance to win it. The captain took the puck and swerved left to right on McIntyre, then fired one top shelf for the win, preserving UNO’s unbeaten record on the road.
The captain hadn’t scored a goal since the Mavs faced Western Michigan on Oct. 18.
“It’s been a tough couple of games for me stat-sheet wise,” Zombo said. “Coach had the confidence in me to put me in the shootout, and one of those things where put my best effort forward and put the puck in the back of the net.”
Massa came into the game with a .949 save percentage, fourth-best in the NCAA. The senior made 24 saves Friday, not including the three he stopped in the shootout.
“So far, he’s the goalie of the year,” Blais said. “There’s still a lot of games left, but I don’t see any changes in his emotion from game to game and practice to practice.”
Blais, who knows better than most just how tough it is to come into Ralph Engelstad Arena and win, was thrilled that his team continued to play like warriors.
“And still undefeated on the road with 10 freshmen,” Blais said “[I’m] pretty happy.”
UNO will defend its road record again Saturday at 7:07 p.m. in Grand Forks N.D.
