The Ohio State men’s hockey team split the weekend’s action at the Schottenstein Center against No. 5 Nebraska-Omaha.

The Bucks won a very physical defensive battle Friday night 1-0, but lost Saturday night, 4-1.

Friday’s game was highlighted by a goaltending duel between OSU’s Mike Betz and UNO’s Dan Ellis.

Betz and the Bucks came out on top as Betz came up with his first shutout of the year. It was the goaltender’s second career shutout as a Buckeye.

Ellis stopped 24 out of 25 shots, but Betz was one better, stopping all 25 shots he faced, leading the Buckeyes to victory.

After game one, Betz said he was relaxed and could tell the Bucks were prepared during warm-ups, even though they were facing a tough opponent.

The only goal of the game came from OSU freshman defenseman Thomas Welsh 6:15 into the second period. Welsh was assisted on the goal by OSU sophomores Scott May and Paul Caponigri.

“It felt great,” Welsh said of his first career goal at OSU.

Game two went in a completely different direction as the Mavericks broke through with four goals, despite being outshot by the Buckeyes 37-22.

Andrew Wong lead the UNO attack tallying one goal and one assist. Wong’s crucial goal 5:24 into the third period put the game out-of-reach for OSU, giving UNO a 3-1 lead.

The Mavericks would go on to score an open net goal in the final minutes of the game when OSU pulled Betz from goal.

OSU outplayed UNO after an early goal 2:30 into the first period by UNO’s Jeff Hogan that went against the flow of the game. OSU outshot UNO 19-4, controlled most of the possession of the puck and dominated most of the scoring chances.

Buckeye sophomore Daymen Bencharski tied the game in the final minutes of the first period and seemed to give OSU momentum going into the second.

However, Greg Zanon’s early goal, 2:03 into the second period, gave the Mavericks a 2-1 lead.

After the game UNO coach Mike Kemp said he felt fortunate to come out with the victory.

“OSU had us on the ropes after the first period,” he said. “After we had an attitude adjustment after the first period, we came out and played well.”

He singled out the play of his goalie Dan Ellis as a big part of the victory.

“Danny was great for us. He played outstanding all weekend,” Kemp said.

“I wasn’t happy with our play at all. It was frustrating the way we came out tonight,” said Buckeye sophomore front-liner R.J. Umberger.

Umberger credited the UNO defense with being the difference in game two.

“They get in your face and don’t allow you any room to move,” he said. “They did what they had to do to slow us down.”

“We made a lot of mental mistakes,” said OSU sophomore forward Dave Steckel.

When asked what UNO did to take him and Umberger out of the game, Steckel said UNO forechecked better as the game went on.

Steckel said OSU failed to match UNO’s intensity in the second period and as the game went on. “I think they came out harder in the second period, and we didn’t come out as hard,” he said.

The loss dropped the Buckeyes to 3-2-1 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, while the Mavericks improved to 6-2-0.

OSU will look to bounce back this weekend when it hosts Wayne State in a two-game series at the Schottenstein Center Friday at 7:30 p.m.