Gateway

Issue date: 2/10/09 Section: News

The UNO hockey team gathers after the game with freshly-shaven heads. (Michelle Bishop/The Gateway) [Click to enlarge]

Head coach Mike Kemp gets his head shaved by Dawn Von Bokern after Saturday night's game. (Michelle Bishop/The Gateway) [Click to enlarge]

UNO hockey players Jeric Agosta (left-to-right), Rich Purslow and Jordan Willert have their heads shaved after Saturday night's game. The team shaved their heads after exceeding their fundraising goal of $30,000, with more than $40,000 raised for Leap-for-a-Cure brain cancer fundraiser. (Michelle Bishop/The Gateway) [Click to enlarge]

Despite extending their winless streak to nine games Saturday night, the members of the UNO hockey team have a reason to hold their heads up proud.

Even if they're now missing their hair.

The Mavericks brought their Leap for a Cure campaign to a head Saturday through a jersey auction and an unusual fundraising promise: the team agreed to shave their heads if fans donated at least $30,000 towards brain cancer research and education.

By the night's end, more than $43,000 was collected, including $8,600 from the jersey auction and $34,653.94 in donations towards the head-shaving drive, according to the Athletic Department.

Thousands of Mavericks fans then watched and cheered as, one by one, each player and coach of the Mavs lost his hair.

Moderated by KETV anchor Brandi Petersen and Channel 94.1 personality Jeff Degan, some of the players and their loved ones joked about getting their heads shaved.

"I know it's not coming back," coach Mike Kemp said when Degan asked whether he thought his hair would ever grow back.

Before the game, Petersen and Degan hosted a pregame ceremony, where 5,000 penlights donated by the Nebraska Methodist Hospital Foundation were used to show how cancer impacts the lives of nearly everyone directly or indirectly through loved ones.

During the game, Petersen and Degan also hosted brief spots three times in each period where they asked Maverick trivia questions and encouraged people to take part in the fundraising campaign.

All of the money raised by the campaign will support the Estabrook Cancer Center in Omaha. More information about Leap for a Cure and the Methodist Hospital Foundation can be found online at leapforacure.org.

"I'm proud of our guys for all of us coming together for this Leap for a Cure," UNO goaltender Jerad Kaufmann said after the game. "It shows a lot about our team; it shows the kind of character we all have. But then for the community to surround that and raise all that money is awesome."

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