GRAND FORKS, N.D.-- If your winning streaks and national ranking is going to crash simultaneously, it might as well be accompanied by a loud bang.

That's what happened to the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks Friday night in front of 10,907 fans at Ralph Engelstad Arena on a sub-zero night when temps reached minus 21 by the time Nebraska-Omaha had completed its stunning 6-3 victory.

With that, UND slipped from No. 1 to No. 2 in the Pairwise Rankings and saw its 15-game unbeaten streak and 13-game home ice win streak end against the opportunistic Mavericks.
 
UND never led, giving up a goal just 49 seconds into the game to Taylor Ward, the son of ex-UND great Dixon Ward, then cementing the defeat with two empty-net goals by the Mavericks in the closing minutes.

"Hats off to them, they played a good road game,'' UND coach Brad Berry said. "They did what they had to do . . . and we didn't.''

So true. UND, which had 29 shots on goal, allowed just 13 shots to the Mavericks, It's third consecutive of 15 or fewer. But the six goals for Omaha is the most UND has given up all year. Standout starting goalie Adam Scheel was pulled midway through the second period after giving up four goals on the eight shots he faced, including two goals on the first two shots he faced.

"Adam has been a rock all year, he's been outstanding,'' Berry said. "Tonight he didn't play his game probably that he thought he would. In saying that, we didn't as a team, either.''

Omaha's offense was meager -- but balanced. The Mavericks got goals from players on all four lines and points from three of their six defensemen. Chayse Primeau, Jason Smallidge, Zach Jordan and Ward scored even-strength goals with Martin Sundberg and Joey Abate adding empty-netters after UND pulled replacement goalie Peter Thome for an extra attacker with 155 seconds remaining.

UND's offense came from Mark Senden (his 3rd) in the first period, snapping his streak of 13 straight games without a goal, and one each from Grant Mismash (6th) in the second period and Jasper Weatherby (7th) in the third.

"We made it difficult on ourselves,'' Berry said. "We weren't efficient with the puck, we weren't efficient playing in their end of the rink. We have to be a whole lot better. Obviously the NCHC doesn't permit you to play a little bit.''

The loss cut UND's hold on first place in the league to one point over defending NCAA champion Minnesota Duluth. The Hawks dropped to 7-1-1 in league play and 16-2-2 overall, losing for the first time since Oct. 19 at Minnesota State-Mankato.

Sometimes a loss doesn't hurt as much as it snaps things, like winning streaks.

"Oh for sure,'' Berry said. "It'll catch our attention for sure. It's one of those things where we have had a lot of success early on by doing all the right things. Tonight, we didn't do them nearly enough throughout the game. It'll bring our attention on how we have to play a 60-minute game to win a game down the stretch here. We'll go over the video again, have meetings tomorrow. It'll be a tough day tomorrow. They always are after a loss. They'll be a little bit of motivation for tomorrow, for sure.''

Omaha (3-5-1 NCHC, 9-9-3 overall), got a sound 26-save effort from freshman goalie Isaiah Saville, just back from being the backup goalie for the United States team in the World Junior Tournament.

"Quick reset button,'' UND captain Colton Poolman said of UND's response to the loss. "It wasn't our most crisp, sharp game and we know we've got to be better.''

And there was a wakeup call delivered as well. "You got to hate that feeling of losing almost more than you want to win sometimes,'' Poolman said. "We got maybe a little kick in the butt and some sense back into us. Be better tomorrow again.''

UND's last hope died following an icing call on Omaha, bring the puck back into the Maverick zone, and allowing UND to pull Thome for a sixth skater while trailing 4-3 at 17:25 of the final period. But the Mavericks chipped the puck into the UND defensive zone, allowing Sundberg to hit the open net just eight seconds later.

"Losing's never fun,'' Weatherby said. "The less losing you do, that's better.''

Which is exactly what UND wants to be in Saturday's 7:05 p.m. rematch -- better.

Game notes: Omaha's Tristan Keck (two assists), UND's Grant Mismash (goal, team-best 5 shots on net) and Saville were voted as the three stars of the game in that order by the media . . . The only Omaha player with more than two shots on net was Abate, with three . . UND was 0-3 on the power play with five shots, Omaha 0-1 with zero shots . . . UND edged Omaha 33-29 in faceoff wins, led by Senden winning 7 of 9. . Thome, in his first official action of the season, faced just three shots in 25 minutes, 15 seconds of play, and stopped them all.  







Virg Foss is in his 15th season of reporting on UND home games exclusively for UNDsports.com. He covered UND hockey for 35 seasons for the Grand Forks Herald until his retirement from newspapers. This is his 50th season of covering UND hockey.