MANKATO, Minn. – Matt Miller skated out from the corner and shoveled a low shot past Minnesota State goaltender Andrew Miller with 2:40 to play in the third period, as Nebraska Omaha skated to a 1-0 exhibition win at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center Saturday night in Mankato. Jack Randl was credited with the only assist after winning the initial battle in the corner.
 
Minnesota State outshot UNO 38-13, including 18-6 over the final frame but failed to push one past either UNO goaltender. Nebraska Omaha kept the Spirit of the Mavericks trophy after UNO skated past MSU 3-2 in similar exhibition fashion last fall.
 
"I thought the energy was good and we played with some resilience to get to second pucks," commented head coach Luke Strand. "Now the next layer is going to be, can we win the races that are going to put us in position to grab a better scoring chance? Can we get to the net when we need to instead of being a little bit hesitant in that area?"
 
Despite the absence of goal-scoring, the new-look Mavericks found chemistry on their top line as Head Coach Luke Strand made his debut in purple and gold behind the bench.
 
After an unremarkable start, Minnesota State began connecting passes and generated more scoring chances over the final ten minutes, including a two-on-one rush which resulted in a glove save by UNO goaltender Simon Latkoczy on Brett Moravec's wrister. After a single power play for both teams, MSU led 11-5 in shots on goal after 20 minutes.
 
MSU's Brenden Olson was issued a high sticking minor at 10:32 of the second period. Following a fruitless UNO powerplay, Victor Mancini stepped in from the point and rang a shot off the far post for Nebraska Omaha, part of an extended offensive zone stretch for the visitors.
 
MSU turned the flow back in their favor and with just under four minutes remaining, Moravec skated around a defender for a backhand shot, swallowed up by Latkoczy. Goaltender interference against Nolan Sullivan put Minnesota State back on the power play but a slash against Kaden Bohlsen evened the teams 4-on-4. MSU led 20-7 in shots on goal after two.
 
Physicality for both teams increased as the game wore on and UNO's Jack Randl hit the far post again to open the third period after he spun around in the high slot. Adam Eisele countered, skating on MSU's top line alone on the rush. He lifted a shot high after it caught a piece of UNO's Simon Eisele (brother) and floated over the crossbar.
 
"I think he (Eisele) got going after training camp. He's a big body with a talented stick. He and Brett (Moravec) and Luc (Wilson) did a nice job together. They can make a lot of plays so I think as long as they keep generating opportunity, that's favorable for what could be down the road."
 
In the final ten seconds of a UNO power play, Miller and Jacob Guevin had open looks on the weak side posts but several MSU defenders sprawled to keep it out. Following Randl's late goal, the Mavericks pulled goaltender Miller for six attackers but came up empty. Alex Tracy started the game between the pipes and made seven saves.
 
Moravec led the Mavericks with six shots on goal, followed by Luc Wilson (five). Minnesota State went 0-for-5 on the power play. Head coach Luke Strand mixed line combinations throughout the night, but found consistency between Eisele and Moravec. Sam Morton was named the third star of the game in front of 4,145 fans.
 
"I was encouraged by the feeling we had on the bench," Strand said. "I was impressed that our guys were happy for one another and the passion that they shared for one another's successes. Even though they are competing for lineup positions, they still found a way to be good teammates. That's a good building block for sure."
 
"I think we can learn to be a little more sturdy and surehanded in certain situations but I wasn't disappointed with our compete level at all," said team captain Sam Morton. "Some of the decision-making can be cleaned up but we can do that. We did a good job getting pucks to the net. Now we just have to do a better job of getting bodies to the net, finding those rebound opportunities."
 
Minnesota State (0-0, 0-0 CCHA) opens its regular season on home ice with a series October 13-14 at Mayo Clinic HSEC against St. Cloud State University. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. Friday night. Nebraska Omaha (0-0, 0-0 NCHC) hosts Niagara next weekend.

Three Stars of the Game
1. Matt Miller (UNO)
2. Jack Randl (UNO)
3. Sam Morton (MSU)