Omaha Hockey, seeded eighth in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Frozen Faceoff, will play top-seeded North Dakota in a quarterfinal series at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The Mavericks, with a season record of 12-22-0 overall and 8-16-0 in conference play, will face North Dakota (25-8-1 overall, 17-6-1 NCHC) starting Friday, March 6 at 7 p.m. CT. The second game is scheduled for Saturday, March 7 at 6 p.m. CT, with a potential third game on Sunday if needed.
Fans can follow the games live on radio station 1290 KOIL or through the Varsity Network. Streaming is available via NCHC.tv.
Omaha recently concluded its regular season with a split series against Miami (Ohio). In the first game on February 27 at Baxter Arena, Omaha secured a 5-3 win as seniors contributed four of the team’s five goals. Cameron Mitchell opened scoring late in the first period and Tyler Rollwagen added another early in the second. After Miami tied the score with two goals, Brett Hyland restored Omaha’s lead before Jacob Guevin and Jacob Slipec extended it further.
The following night, Marcus Nguyen and Myles Hilman scored for Omaha but could not prevent a 4-2 loss to Miami. Nguyen recorded his team-leading eleventh goal of the season during this match and has scored three times over his last four games.
Freshman forward Jérémy Loranger was named NCHC Rookie of the Month for February after leading all conference freshmen in scoring during that period. Loranger began February by scoring against then-No. 8 Denver and continued with two more goals at Arizona State, marking three consecutive games with goals. He also registered one goal and two assists against Colorado College on February 21 and finished the month with seven points from three goals and four assists across five games.
As Omaha heads into postseason play, Maxime Pellerin leads the team with twenty points (eight goals and twelve assists), followed by Trevor Wong and Luke Woodworth who each have nineteen points. Wong has collected twelve points over his last ten games.
Goaltender Simon Latkoczy has played twenty-three games this season for Omaha, amassing six hundred twenty-six saves along with a .899 save percentage and a goals-against average of 3.23. Latkoczy is also nominated for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award this year.
The winner between Omaha and North Dakota will advance to the semifinal round of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff tournament.
