GRAND FORKS — Gibson Homer stopped 29 of 30 shots and UND beat Omaha 3-1 on Saturday to complete a two-game sweep. Ellis Rickwood scored the winner with 2.4 seconds left in the second period. Anthony Menghini scored in the first and Cody Croal iced it with an empty-netter.
First star: Ellis Rickwood, UND, game-winning goal.
Second star: Gibson Homer, UND, 29 saves.
Third star: Anthony Menghini, UND, goal.
No scoring.
Omaha 1, UND 0 — Cameron Briere 2 (Jérémy Loranger, Tyler Rollwagen) 1:29 (pp). Omaha converts its second power-play chance of the night when Loranger sends a pass from the corner to the opposite circle, where Briere snipes it on UND goalie Gibson Homer.
Omaha 1, UND 1 — Anthony Menghini 2 (Jake Livanavage) 2:21. UND answers in just 52 seconds. Livanavage breaks up an Omaha zone entry and sends a pass to Menghini, who skated up the left side on a 3-on-1. Menghini took the shot himself and wired it five-hole on Omaha goalie Dawson Cowan. It’s Menghini’s second goal against the Mavericks this season.
UND 2, Omaha 1 — Ellis Rickwood 2 19:57. Rickwood gives UND the lead on a highlight-reel play with 2.4 seconds left in the period. He intercepts a Samuel Huo breakout pass at the top of the zone, fakes a shot to get Griffin Ludtke, walks around Ludtke, fakes a shot on Cowan to freeze him, then moves it to the backhand and scores.
UND 3, Omaha 1 — Cody Croal 5 19:17 (en). Croal takes the puck from Loranger, skates to center and sends it into the empty net with 42.6 seconds to go.
Forwards
26 Dylan James—29 Ellis Rickwood—21 Ben Strinden
7 Mac Swanson—8 Ollie Josephson—9 Will Zellers
19 Cody Croal—15 Jack Kernan—14 Tyler Young
27 Anthony Menghini—20 Cade Littler—22 David Klee
Defensemen
4 Jake Livanavage—6 E.J. Emery
3 Jayden Jubenvill—13 Sam Laurila
25 Abram Wiebe—2 Bennett Zmolek
11 Ian Engel
Goaltenders
31 Gibson Homer
35 Jan Špunar
1 Zach Sandy
Not in lineup: F Josh Zakreski (inj), F Cole Reschny (WJC), D Keaton Verhoeff (WJC), D Andrew Strathmann (susp), F Dalton Andrew
Forwards
71 Brett Hyland—12 Luke Woodworth—9 Cameron Briere
86 Jérémy Loranger—25 Cameron Mitchell—72 Marcus Nguyen
18 Myles Hilman—21 Tyler Rollwagen—13 Jacob Slipec
38 Trevor Wong—11 Samuel Huo—23 Maxime Pellerin
Defensemen
7 Griffin Ludtke—Jacob Guévin
24 Marc Lajoie—44 Spencer Sova
5 Joe Gramer—8 Marcus Broberg
Goaltenders
73 Dawson Cowan
1 Will Craig
Not in lineup: F Chase LaPinta (inj), D Aidan de La Gorgendiere (ill), F Sean Tschigerl (susp), G Simon Latkoczy (inj), D Hunter McInnes
Referees — Brandon Schmitt and Bobby Lukkason
Linesmen — Kyle Stephens and Tyler Landman
Supervisor — Thor Nelson
Both teams are without one player who was suspended for fighting in Friday night’s series opener — UND defenseman Andrew Strathmann and Omaha center Sean Tschigerl. . . UND is bringing in Ian Engel for Strathmann. Omaha is bringing in Cameron Briere for Tschigerl. . . Omaha is without starting goaltender Simon Latkoczy, who suffered a lower-body injury in the opening two minutes of Friday’s game. Dawson Cowan is starting for the Mavericks. . . UND is switching goaltenders, too. One night after breaking a school record by winning his first nine collegiate starts, Jan Špunar is getting the night off. Gibson Homer is starting his first game since Nov. 15 against Arizona State. . . Homer turned in his best performance of the season against Omaha on Nov. 8, stopping 34 of 35. . . Omaha defenseman Aidan de La Gorgendiere is unable to play in the series finale, so the Mavericks are going with Moorhead’s Joe Gramer in his place. . . UND is without its Canadian World Junior hopefuls Cole Reschny and Keaton Verhoeff for a second-straight game. . . UND has won five games in a row and nine of the last 10. . . After this game, UND doesn’t play again until Jan. 2 against Mercyhurst.
Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top beat writer for the Herald’s circulation division four times and the North Dakota sportswriter of the year twice. He resides in Grand Forks. Reach him at bschlossman@gfherald.com.