The Defender Hockey got an 8-3 win over the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks on Friday night in front of a packed house at Vernon Arena. The Defender Days crowd brought a lot of energy, and it seemed to have an impact.

Defenseman, Zach Espenson, had this to say after the game:

We knew if we got the fans into it early and jumped on top it would be a long night for UNO. The fans were amazing tonight and we can't thank them enough.

Head Coach, Tyler Morgan, commented as well:

What an awesome atmosphere that Defender Nation brought to the rink tonight. Our guys love the opportunity to play in front of our home crowd. We worked hard and took advantage of the opportunities we had.

How it Happened:
In what was a physical game from start to finish, the Defenders jumped out to a one goal lead about mid-way through the first period on an unassisted goal by Jonah Weems.

1st Period Highlights against Nebraska-Omaha: Jonah Weems opens the scoring for Dordt! pic.twitter.com/HacdOpdKqa
— Dordt Defender Athletics (@dordtdefenders) October 29, 2022
 

The Mavericks responded quickly however and scored a goal of their own just over a minute later. It looked as though the two teams would end the first period tied at one, but Isaac Bedwell was able to break the tie with his first career goal with just under a minute left in the period.

1st Period Highlights against Nebraska-Omaha: Isaac Bedwell with his first career goal to give the Defenders a 2-1 lead! Assisted by Bryce Swalve and Mason Carrels pic.twitter.com/JRSMwc4r3E
— Dordt Defender Athletics (@dordtdefenders) October 29, 2022
 

Dordt got to work immediately at the beginning of the second period with a quick goal from Zach Espenson on the assist from Alex Espenson.

2nd Period highlights against Nebraska-Omaha: Zach Espenson puts @DordtHockey up 3-1! Assist by Alex Espenson. pic.twitter.com/C0OpfEgCxE
— Dordt Defender Athletics (@dordtdefenders) October 29, 2022
 

After the Mavericks responded with a goal of their own, the Defenders started to take control of the game with two unanswered goals to wrap up the second period with a 5-3 lead. The third period would look much like the second did. Dordt scored three times to stretch the lead as far as 8-2 before the final Maverick goal.

Stat Summary:
The Defenders 8 goals were scored by 8 different players. That was Jonah Weems, Isaac Bedwell, Zach Espenson, Austin Green, Bryce Swalve, Andrew Benson, Isaac Baart, and Alex Espenson.
Lucas Van Berkel picked up 3 assists. Alex Espenson and Mason Carrels each had 2 assists. Bryce Swalve, Nathan Fanning, and Tristan Schlechter each had one assist.
Dordt racked up 55 shots on goal compared to 20 shots on goal for Nebraska-Omaha.
Graeme Edmund was in made 17 saves for the Defenders at Goalie.

Looking ahead:
The Defender's next action will be at home once again when they host the University of Kansas for a two-game set. Those games will be on Friday, November 11^th and Saturday, November 12^th at 7pm and 1pm respectively.