"It's definitely been a while," Broadhurst said. "It's hard to say that I'm not thinking about it, but I'm going to have to keep sticking with it."

Broadhurst, the UNO captain, will try to break his 11-game goal drought this weekend as the Mavericks return to WCHA play with a series against Bemidji State. Game times are 7:37 p.m. Friday and 7:07 p.m. Saturday.

Once among the most prolific scorers in the country, Broadhurst is still tied for 16th nationally in goals.

His slump started when he didn't record a point in series against North Dakota and Quinnipiac, but he's working on a four-game assist streak, with five assists in all during that stretch. His 14 assists put him at 28 points overall.

"He's still getting his assists, he's just not scoring like he did the first half — but he's getting the opportunities," UNO coach Dean Blais said. "I would say in the next 10 games, he's capable of getting 10 goals, and then all of a sudden he's got (24) for the year.

"He had a great first half, and he's been snakebitten so far — for six games — in the second half. ... He's had a lot of chances that he's misfired, or the goaltender has made a great save."

Since the pucks stopped finding the net for Broadhurst, UNO has managed to go 5-4-2 and is still sitting in decent shape at 12-10-4 overall.

Though the Mavs dropped to sixth in the league with 21 points (9-6-3), they've also played two fewer games than North Dakota (11-9-0, 22 points) and are only two points behind third-place Denver (10-5-3).

A weekend sweep of 10th-place Bemidji State — obviously no small task against one of UNO's most frustrating opponents — would set the Mavs up for a possible push over the last 10 games of the season.

Having Broadhurst clicking again would help, and his slump hasn't been for a lack of effort. He's put at least three shots on goal eight times during his drought.

Frustrations perhaps ran highest when the Mavs last played Jan. 20 and 21 at Minnesota State-Mankato. The 6-foot, 170-pounder from Orland Park, Ill., put 13 shots on goal — six in the opener and seven in the second game, an overtime loss.

"I don't know how many shots I had over the weekend, but it was quite a few," Broadhurst said. "I just didn't have any puck luck. I think I'm on the right track. I'm getting the opportunities — and it's better to be getting them than not. I've just got to stick with it, keep shooting the puck, and it will go in."

UNO, with only two true centers on its roster, has lacked some scoring punch throughout its four forward lines. As a result, opponents are able to match up with Broadhurst and whomever else has been on the team's top line.

The Mavs have tried to address that by converting skilled freshman winger Josh Archibald to center. He's expected to skate alongside Broadhurst and Matt White on the first line this weekend, giving Blais more depth to work with throughout his forward lines.

"It's tough to play against those top lines," Blais said. "They might have a defensive (forward) who is fast and physical, and then can put their top defensive pair out there, too."

Experience is a factor too, Blais said.

"If our top line is Terry Broadhurst, junior, and Matt White, sophomore, with Josh Archibald, freshman ... that's still not a real experienced line," Blais said.

Broadhurst doesn't want to settle for being shut down by top-tier defenders.

"The top defensive pairings are playing against us every night, but that's no excuse — the top players still find ways to score," he said. "I've got to find ways to put the puck in no matter who I'm playing against."

Contact the writer:

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

twitter.com/RWhiteOWH

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