OMAHA, Neb. – Goaltender Simon Latkoczy stopped 40-of-41 shots thrown his way to help No. 17 Omaha defeat North Dakota, 2-1, on Friday night in the opening game of the NCHC Quarterfinals from Baxter Arena in Omaha.
UND (16-14-6) nearly overcame a 2-0 deficit in the final 90 seconds, cutting the lead to 2-1 with 1:14 to play on Riese Gaber’s 20th goal of the season before the junior rang one off the crossbar in the dying seconds to snap the unbeaten streak at six for the visitors.
Drew DeRidder kept his team in it during the opening 20 minutes, turning aside all 17 shots fired his way to keep the game scoreless after 20 minutes. The Michigan State transfer finished the contest with 26 saves on 28 shots, but suffered only his fourth loss since Dec. 9.
Following a scoreless first period, Omaha (19-13-3) jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 4:29 into the period, Jacob Guevin’s shot from the point hit a body and deflected in to get the hosts on the board. The Mavs doubled their advantage less than three minutes later on Davis Pennington’s first goal on the season, sneaking down from the point and firing it through the legs of DeRidder to increase the lead to 2-0 after 40 minutes of play despite a 17-6 shot advantage for North Dakota.
NoDak started to push in the final 20 minutes of regulation, firing 13 shots on goal compared to just five for Omaha. With the goalie pulled, Gaber wired home a shot to cut the lead to 2-1 in the final moments, but UND could not complete the comeback.
North Dakota will look to even the best-of-3 series at one on Saturday night at 7:07 p.m. from Baxter Arena.
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