ASU Hockey: UNO series brings two Sun Devils back to Omaha

(Photo: Gabrielle Mercer/WCSN)

ASU hockey will travel back to Baxter Arena to take on the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks in the second of a trio of road series in October.

Each team is looking to take home its second win of the season.

The Sun Devils lost in a series of two single-point games last weekend against Air Force following a split-win opening weekend against UMass-Amherst. The Mavericks won one game in their opening series against UMass-Lowell.

The two setbacks from last weekend have given ASU an overall record of 1-3-0 this season.

The last time the Sun Devils played the Mavericks was in its NCAA debut season two years ago. ASU was swept in a series that gave them one goal against the Mavericks’ nine.

“Omaha, they’re just a really good team,” ASU head coach Greg Powers said. “They’re probably going to have a little bit more talent than anyone we’ve played.”

Two seasons later, the Mavericks have found a new head coach in Omaha alumni and former NAIT head coach Mike Gabinet. Gabinet is the first rookie head coach in Canadian college history to lead a team to an undefeated record. So far with UNO, he has a 1-1-0 record.

This weekend’s series is also a homecoming for a few Sun Devils. Assistant captain Louie Rowe and forward Gage Hough both played junior hockey for the USHL’s Omaha Lancers. The duo played only one season together during the 2013-14 season.

“We’ve got to bring a little bit of a comforting peace in order to go into a barn like that and play well,” Hough said.

The two are looking forward to being reunited and able to play with family and friends as crowd members. Both said it’s exciting to be able to play at the next level for each of their support systems.

“I can’t wait,” Rowe said. “I have a ton of fans, and basically my extended family is out there. I played there for two years and they made me apart of their home. So it’s going to be a treat to go back and see all the friendly faces.”

Hough is from Omaha himself and is looking forward to playing in his hometown.

“It’s pretty special to me to have them there and my grandfather there,” he said.

ASU has yet to win a road game this season. Powers said he believes the team has overall played good hockey and the team is in high spirits, and with a little bit more focus on the process versus the result, they can expect better results.

“We feel like we could beat anybody, we do,” Powers said. “And we’re going in there with the expectation to win.”