This Week
      The 13-9-2 Omaha Mavericks jump on the road for the first time in 2023 after going 5-0-1 on their six-game homestand. They'll head to Kalamazoo to battle it out with the No. 9 Western Michigan Broncos.

The Teams
      The Mavericks are sitting at 13-9-2 (8-5-1 NCHC) after sweeping the Miami RedHawks last weekend. The Mavericks currently sit in sole possession of 3rd place in the NCHC with 27 points, just two ahead of the Broncos. Omaha enters the weekend riding a five-game winning streak.
      Western enters this weekend's series with a 16-9-1 (8-5-1 NCHC) record. The Broncos are coming off a road sweep of the Colorado College Tigers last weekend. Western is riding a six-game win streak coming into this weekend's road series.

Last Time Out
      The Mavericks and Broncos met earlier this season at Baxter Arena. Omaha erased a 3-0 1st period deficit on Friday by scoring seven unanswered goals in route to a 7-6 victory. The Mavericks completed the sweep of the Broncos the following night, downing them 3-1.

All-Time vs. Western Michigan
      The Mavericks and Broncos are primed for meetings 62 and 63 this weekend. The all-time series is currently 31-24-6 in favor of Omaha. When the game is played in Kalamazoo, the all-time series sits at 13-16-4 in favor of the Broncos.

Up Next
      The Mavericks will break before getting another crack at Colorado College when they welcome the Tigers to Baxter Arena for a two-game home series on February 10th and 11th.

Jack Attack
    Senior forward Jack Randl is one of the top-10 goal scorers in the country with 15. Randl leads all Mavericks with 25 points this season. Randl assisted on the first and fourth goals for Omaha last Friday to secure his 8th multi-point game of the season. He is the first player in program history to score 8 goals in the first 6 games of a season. The previous record of 7 was held by Austin Ortega (15-16) and Brandon Scero (06-07). 

Consistency Is Key
    Sophomore forward Ty Mueller has recorded points in 19 of the 23 games he's played in. He is currently 2nd on the team in points with 21. Mueller has recorded at least one point in 14 his last 17 games. Last Saturday series finale against MU was the first game of the season the sophomore center has missed.

Mighty Miller
    Junior forward Matt Miller had a four-game goal streak snapped after the  December 2nd battle against Western Michigan. Miller became the 20th player in program history to score goals in four straight games. He joins Jack Randl as the only other Maverick to accomplish that feat this season. 

Mighty Miller II
    Since returning from missing three games due to injury, Miller has recorded points in 10 of the 14 games he's played in. Miller book-ended the scoring last Friday night. He scored 60 seconds into the game and capped off the night with his 9th goal of the season with 10 minutes left in the 2nd period.

Among The National Leaders 
    The Mavericks 26.1 power play percent is good for 4th in the country currently. That mark is 2nd in the NCHC, behind North Dakota.

Among The Conference Leaders 
    Nolan Sullivan (.588) Jake Pivonka (.558), sit 2nd and 6th respectively in NCHC faceoff win%. Omaha is the top ranked team in the NCHC in faceoff winning percentage at .535 percent. That is good for 6th in the NCAA.

Seeing Multiples
    The Mavericks have had 13 players register multi-point games this season. 1-Fust, Lemay, Slipec, Sullivan. 2 - Pennington, Pivonka. 3 - Berg, Guevin, Mueller, Tychonick. 4 - Weiss. 5 - Miller. 8 - Randl.

The Middle Frame
    The Mavericks are outscoring their opponents 35-21 in the 2nd period this season. They have 59 more shots than their opponents, outshooting them 273-214 in the second 20 minutes. The Mavericks are 9-2-0 when leading after 40 minutes of hockey. On the opposite, Western Michigan's best period is the 3rd period. They are outscoring opponents 42-15 and outshooting them 271-203 in the final 20 minutes of regulation.

Young Guns
    The freshmen defensive pair of Jo Lemay and Jacob Guevin have been a mainstay for the Mavericks on the blueline. The pair has played in 19 games on the blueline together and have registered 2 goals, 16 assists for 18 points.

Simon Says
    Rookie netminder Simon Latkoczy registered his first career shutout last Saturday night when he turned away all 21 Miami shots he faced. Latkoczy has won six of his last seven starts and has a .952 save% over that stretch. In all seven of those starts, he allowed two goals or less.

On Their Best Behavior
    In 24 games, the Mavericks have taken 87 penalties, 3.63 per game. That is the least amount of penalties taken among NCHC teams. The next closest team is Colorado College with 98.

Media
    Both games can be heard live on AM 1290.  Casey Roehl will have the play-by-play; Terry Leahy provides analysis.  Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show. You can also stream both games on NCHC.tv.

The Opponent
    Currently sitting in 4th place place in the NCHC with 25 points, the Western Michigan Broncos lead the NCAA in goals per game at 4.31.

Special Teams
    WMU holds the 3rd ranked power play (25.5%) in the NCHC and 8th ranked in the NCAA. On the opposite, the Broncos have the 7th ranked penalty kill(76.5%). The Broncos PK sits at 56th in the country.

The Sin Bin
    The Broncos average the third most penalties per game in the NCHC at 4.38. Their 9.50 penalty minutes per game is the sixth most in the conference.

Players To Watch
    Freshman forward Ryan McAllister leads the NCAA in points with 40. The rookie forward has racked up 11 goals and 29 assists this season. He is averaging 1.54 points per game which ranks 2nd in the NCAA.
    Jason Polin's 23 lamp lighters is the best mark in the NCAA currently. Polin has 36 points this season which is the 3rd most in college hockey.

At Lawson Arena
     The Mavericks can expect a hostile environment at Lawson Arena this weekend. Notorious for their student section crowds, the Broncos have not played a true home game since December 10th. Western is 5-3-1 on home ice this season.