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Thirty minutes after Saturday's game, University of Nebraska at Omaha goalie Ryan Massa was still at it, deflecting and turning aside compliments and opportunities to bask in the spotlight as deftly as he was turning away the pucks sent his way by top-ranked Minnesota-Duluth.

"Every single player on our team did his job," Massa said, after stopping 43 of 44 shots and ending the defending national champions' unbeaten streak at 17 games in a 3-1 win. "We had at least 20 blocked shots. Our forwards and defense were eating rubber all night, and that makes my job a lot easier and gave me the time and space to make the saves I needed to make."

A night like that, coming after two other high-quality starts, would seem like Massa staking his claim to No. 1 goaltender status. Massa and John Faulkner have split time in the Mavericks' last three series.

Each gave up one goal at North Dakota, with Faulkner getting a win and Massa a loss. Faulkner gave up two goals in a tie to Quinnipiac and Massa gave up one in a win. Then Faulkner surrendered five goals Friday to Minnesota-Duluth.

"At the end of the day, both of us have been playing very consistent for the team and it's just going to come down to who Coach decides," Massa said. "I'll be happy any time John is in net, and I'll be happy if I get the call as well."

UNO coach Dean Blais has been noncommittal about naming a No. 1 starter. He isn't ready to turn it over to Massa quite yet, but he's noticing.

"Not really," Blais said, when asked if Massa's performance settles the goalie debate. "But he's given up three goals in the last three games, so he's been consistent."

Consistency, Massa said, is key. But it's consistency during the practice week that will lead to more steady work on the weekends.

"John and I have been spending a lot of time with Coach (Brian) Renfrew every week," Massa said, referring to the Mavs' assistant in charge of goaltenders. "He's been doing a great job fine-tuning our weaknesses. Our job every week is to be better than we were last week, both in games and in practice.

"One thing I've wanted to do is be more consistent in practice leading into games, to have four great practices Monday through Thursday, and to come into whichever game I'm called upon, Friday or Saturday, and give my team a chance to win."

Once on the ice, Massa has been doing that. He's 4-1 in his last five starts and would have won 5 of 6 if not for giving up a goal in the final minute of regulation at Bemidji State to settle for a tie.

For the season, Massa is 5-3-1 with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. He ranks fifth in the WCHA in both GAA and save percentage.

"He actually had just a so-so week of practice," Blais said. "But over the course of the last month, when Mike (Hastings) was running the team, he said he'd been sharp."

Minnesota-Duluth turned up the heat against Massa, seemingly spending most of the game in the offensive zone in front of him.

The Bulldogs put 12 shots on goal in the first period, but none got past him.

"I've got to be sharp right away," Massa said. "One of our keys was a strong first five minutes. They came ready to play (Friday) night and popped two on us within the first five (minutes). We wanted a stronger start, and ultimately that comes down to me keeping the puck out of the net for the first five. After we got through that, we just kept building more momentum as the game went on."

Jack Connolly scored early in the second period to tie the game, but Massa entered the third period with a 2-1 lead thanks to an Andrew Schmit goal and 14 saves of his own.

Then, in the third period, the Minnesota-Duluth barrage included 17 shots on goal to three for UNO.

"They threw 40-some shots on net, so there wasn't a lot of down time," Massa said. "It really forces me to stay mentally engaged. I can't afford to make any mistakes."

It was an out-of-character game for the Mavs, who prefer to inflict on their opponents the kind of pressure Minnesota-Duluth did.

"They did a great job of putting pressure on my sides, forcing me to stay true to the guy with the puck," Massa said. "I couldn't cheat, and I always had to be aware of guys like J.T. Brown and Jack Connolly creeping in on the back door."

Mostly though, Massa was talking about his teammates, the effort they made in deflecting even more shots that never got to him.

"Every shot that doesn't hit me, I'm there screaming to them, thanking them, because that's a potential goal that could go in," Massa said. "It gets me just as fired up as the bench and the crowd to see guys sell out like that and sacrifice their body for me and the team. It's a selfless act and it makes for a successful team."

Steered another aside there.

"There's a thing in goaltending where the goalie sees everything and everything looks easy," Blais said. "And that's how he played. He deflected everything to the corner, deflected them up to the stands when he had to, and covered the rebounds."

Contact the writer:

402-444-1027, rob.white@owh.com

twitter.com/RWhiteOWH

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