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The UNO hockey team might've been unbeaten in seven of its eight games without Tomas Klempa, but don't say the Mavs didn't miss their hard-working freshman forward.
Klempa, out all of February with a broken wrist, had a goal and two assists Friday night while playing his first game since Jan. 28. Adam Bartholomay, Bryan Marshall and Jason Krischuk also scored as the Mavs beat Bowling Green State 4-2 in the first game of the teams' best-of-three CCHA playoff series. "I was excited this whole week, just to start practicing again," Klempa said. "I'm just really happy to be back." Klempa, who ranks fourth on the Mavs with 24 points, seemed to provide a spark for the University of Nebraska at Omaha the first time he took the ice. The Slovakia native has become a fan favorite in is first season with the Mavs,
and his energy earned him cheers and applause from the crowd of 5,182 throughout the night. "He was the best player on the ice tonight by far," UNO's Scott Parse said of Klempa. "You could definitely see he got our team going." Parse assisted Klempa's goal, increasing his NCAA-leading season point total to 60. And with 144 career points at UNO, the junior now is tied with David Brisson - who played four seasons from 1999-2003 with the Mavs - atop the school point charts. UNO coach Mike Kemp said it was critical the Mavs grab Friday's series opener. The Mavs wouldn't even have been playing this weekend if they could've held on to their 5-2 third-period lead last weekend at Western Michigan. But the Broncos rallied and ultimately took three of four points from UNO on a weekend the Mavs needed two points to lock up a first-round CCHA bye. "We wanted this one, because we wanted to put last weekend behind us and get that taste out of our mouths," Kemp said. "We just want to get back to playing successful hockey, and it was good to get this one out of the way."
UNO now will try to close out the series at 7:05 tonight. If the Falcons win game two, the best-of-three series will be decided Sunday night. Bowling Green outshot UNO 10-3 in the opening period. But Bartholomay scored the first goal of the game, and the Mavs took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Kemp credited UNO freshman goalie Jerad Kaufmann, who allowed nine goals last weekend at Western Michigan, for bouncing back and handling Bowling Green's early barrage. "In that first period, it was important we had Jerad come up for us as big as he did," Kemp said. "He rebounded extremely well from last weekend and played really well tonight." Klempa scored a shorthanded goal 3:26 into the second period, and he later raced into the Bowling Green zone and made a nifty pass from behind the net to set up Marshall's goal at the 6:04 mark. Jonathan Matsumoto connected for a power-play goal to get the Falcons on the board midway through the second period. Matsumoto connected again in the third during another Bowling Green power play, but the Mavs iced it with one minute left in the game on Krischuk's empty-netter. Bowling Green (13-22-2).........................0 1 1-2 Contact the Omaha World-Herald newsroom Copyright ©2006 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or distributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald. 
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