WAKEFIELD, Mass. - Sophomore forward Austin Ortega earned his second award of the day when he was named the Hockey Commissioners Association National Player of the Month for December.
Ortega is the first Maverick to be named national player of the month since February of 2014 when Josh Archibald won the award. Earlier in the day, Ortega also was named the NCHC Player of the Month, the second Maverick to be so honored this season.
Ortega was dominant in December, leading Omaha to a 5-2-1 record while playing in all eight games. He paced the NCHC with nine points during the month, which also tied for the national lead in December, while his seven goals did lead the NCAA for the month. Of his seven goals, four were game-winners, again leading the country for December, while he is also now tied for the NCAA lead with seven game-winning goals this season. Ortega tallied a point in seven of his eight games during the month, including a pair of multi-goal games, while handing out two assists in addition to his goals.
Ortega opened December with an assist in a loss at Miami Dec. 5, but rebounded with a pair of goals, including the first goal and the game-winner, the next night as the Mavs earned a split. He was named first star of the game in the series finale.
The next weekend, Ortega led Omaha to a sweep of St. Cloud State, scoring the game-winning goal in both contests. First on Dec. 12, he broke a 2-2 tie with a power play goal in the third period, while the next night he broke a 3-3 tie with a third period goal while earning second star of the game. Ortega was tabbed NCAA Second Star of the Week following the SCSU series.
After having his four-game point streak and three-game goal streak snapped on Dec. 20, Ortega responded with another two-goal outing the next night, scoring twice on the power play in the third period to help UNO erase a deficit and tie Alabama-Huntsville.
The Escondido, Calif., native closed his month with another game-winner, scoring in overtime Dec. 30 to lift Omaha to a 2-1 win over New Hampshire, again earning him first star of the game. He then chipped in an assist in a loss to UNH on New Year's Eve as he was named NCHC Offensive Player of the Week for his outings against UAH and UNH. Ortega put 33 shots on goal in December, which led all NCAA players for the month.
Ortega, who is tied for the NCHC lead with a career-best 22 points this season, is now a candidate for Hockey Commissioners' Association (HCA) National Player of the Month for December, which will be announced later this week.
Other nominees for December NCHC Player of the Month included Denver sophomore goaltender Evan Cowley, Miami senior forward Austin Czarnik, Western Michigan sophomore forward Sheldon Dries, North Dakota junior goaltender Zane McIntyre and Minnesota Duluth sophomore forward Dominic Toninato.
Ortega follows goaltender Ryan Massa who was named the conference's player of the month in October.
