After 10 straight road games in a seven-week stretch, the UAA hockey team headed home Monday with something to look forward to — its first home game since Nov. 10 — and a lot to forget.
The Seawolves were badly outplayed Monday in a 4-0 loss to Nebraska-Omaha that put them and first-year coach Matt Curley in the school record book for the wrong reason.
The shutout was the eighth of the season for UAA, tying the record set by John Hill’s 2002-03 team. With 16 games remaining in the regular season, this season’s Seawolves could grab that record outright.
Omaha outshot the Seawolves 49-20 and scored three times on six power plays to secure a series sweep in front of a crowd of 6,102 at Baxter Arena.
UAA goalies Kris Carlson and Kristian Stead combined for 45 saves. Carlson, the starter, gave up three goals on 34 shots in the first two periods and Stead gave up one goal on 15 shots in the third period.
Omaha shut out the Seawolves in both games of the nonconference series. The Mavericks (6-10-2), who play in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, won Saturday’s game 3-0 thanks to three goals in the third period.
The setbacks in Nebraska dropped UAA to 2-15-1 overall. During their extended stretch on the road — which began Nov. 16 at Northern Michigan University — the Seawolves went 1-9, were shut out four times and outscored 37-10. Their lone victory was a 2-1 win over Bemidji State on Dec. 15.
The Seawolves return home as Division I’s lowest scoring team with 19 goals in 18 games (1.05 goals per game).
They’ll get a chance to turn things around in friendly surroundings this weekend when they host Lake Superior State in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series Friday and Saturday at Sullivan Arena.