Mavs 3, Sparty 2

While not as entertaining from a pure competition standpoint, UNO's 3-2 victory over Michigan State is sure a lot more satisfying. Scott Parse regained the status as the nation's leading scorer with 2 assists last night. The most impressive was forcing the turnover while short-handed, then feeding Tomas Klempa for the eventual game-winning goal in the 2nd period.

Freshman Jared Kaufmann put in another solid performance in goal, only allowing 1 power play goal to one of the hottest teams in the country. He's probably still sore from the whack he took in a second period scrum.

This morning's Pairwise ratings has UNO in a tie for 9th place, which is rather bizarre because UNO currently sits in 9th place in their conference. This weekend is the tough road-trip to Alaska-Fairbanks. They really need to get some points up north this weekend.

I really think it may be easier for UNO to get to the NCAA tournament this season than the Joe (for the CCHA tournament's semi-finals). UNO's non-conference performance, as well as the performance by the rest of the CCHA has elevated the conference's position to the point they may get five teams in the tournament. My guess is that UNO needs to win 3 out of 4 remaining home games (Lake Superior State and Michigoon), then try to split the remaining series at Northern Michigan, Western Michigan, and Alaska-Fairbanks.