Omaha hockey will close out the first half of its season this weekend against nonconference foe Lindenwood.
The 6-8 Mavericks will host the 3-12-1 Lions from suburban St. Louis on Friday and Saturday at 7:07 p.m. at Baxter Arena.
UNO then will take a 15-day break for Christmas, returning to action Dec. 29 with an exhibition game against Manitoba. The Mavs are coming off a road split against ninth-ranked St. Cloud State.
“We traveled Sunday and got right back to work Monday,” Omaha coach Mike Gabinet said. “We know there’s no easy games and we want to build some momentum.”
Gabinet pointed to Lindenwood’s difficult schedule. The Lions have played third-ranked Michigan State, No. 4 Denver, No. 15 Ohio State and previously ranked Wisconsin.
Lindenwood has played four games against teams — Michigan State and Denver — ranked No. 1 at the time.
“Their schedule has been extremely hard,” the …