Nebraska-Omaha sophomore Dan Ellis stopped 45 shots in the Mavericks’ 4-2 win over Notre Dame, completing UNO’s weekend sweep of the Irish.
Ellis made 86 saves on 90 Irish shots in the two-game series, and Nebraska-Omaha scored a pair of power-play goals on the night to hand the Irish their third straight home loss.
“It was a very frustrating weekend for us when you get 90 shots on goal and don’t get a point,” said Irish head coach Dave Poulin.
Nebraska-Omaha took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Scotty Turner and Anthony Adams. At 10:48 on the UNO power play, Turner tucked Andrew Wong’s rebound under Irish goaltender Morgan Cey.
Three minutes later, David Brisson took the puck in his own zone and raced down the right wing, cutting in on Cey. Brisson circled behind the net to pick up the rebound of his own initial shot and passed to Adams, who was camped on the doorstep, waiting to tap it home at 13:30.
Notre Dame answered just 13 seconds later when Rob Globke unleashed a blast from the top of the right wing circle that beat Ellis high to his glove side, and the first period ended 2-1 in favor of UNO.
After a scoreless second period, the Mavericks picked up their second power play of the night, just four minutes into the third period. Wong notched his ninth of the year at the 4:00 mark,
assisted by Jeff Hoggan and Brisson.
The Irish kept the pressure on Ellis in the third, finishing the period with 22 shots on goal and finally breaking through with a power-play goal of their own.
David Inman equalled a career best with his 13th goal of the season from Tom Galvin at 12:55.
The loss drops the Irish to 8-11-5 (6-8-4 CCHA) while the Mavericks improve to 14-9-3 (8-7-3 CCHA). UNO entered the weekend one point behind the Irish in the CCHA standings, and return to Omaha with a three-point lead over Notre Dame. The Irish loss also marks the first time this season that Notre Dame has failed to take at least a point from a league opponent in a two-game series.
Notre Dame outshot Nebraska-Omaha for the second night in a row, this time by a 47-27 margin. Cey finished the night with 23 saves.
