This Week
      The No. 12 Omaha Mavericks head to Colorado Springs to take on the No. 10 Colorado College Tigers in the opening round of the NCHC Playoffs.

The Teams
      The 20-10-4 Mavericks enter the first round of the NCHC Playoffs after sweeping the No. 3 North Dakota Fighting Hawks in the regular season series finale at Baxter Arena. Omaha opened the final weekend of the regular season with a 3-2 victory over UND. The Mavericks followed that up with a 4-1 win the next night to secure their 20th victory of the season. Entering the weekend, the Mavericks are unbeaten in seven straight games and in 11 of their last 12.
      The Tigers are coming off a series split with Denver last weekend that helped them lock up the four seed and home ice. They defeated the Pioneers 4-3 in the series opener. The following night was also a 4-3 final score, but it went the way of the Pioneers. CC currently sits No. 10 in the NCAA with a 20-11-3 record.

Last Time Out
      The Mavericks and Tigers met three weeks ago at Baxter Arena. The Mavericks took five of six points from CC on the weekend. Omaha shutout the Tigers 3-0 in the series opener behind 24 saves from Simon Latkoczy. The next night Nolan Sullivan tied the game late with 2:55 left in the regulation to help force OT. The Mavericks would go on to grab the extra NCHC point in a shootout winning it 1-0.

All-Time vs. Colorado College
      The Mavericks and Tigers are primed for their 48th and 49th meetings all time. The all-time series record is 27-14-6 in favor of Omaha. When the game is played in Colorado Springs, the Mavericks hold the all-time series lead at 12-9-1.

Media
      Both games can be heard live on AM 1290.  Coverage begins 30 minutes before game time with the First National Bank Pre-Game Show. Mike Vaillancourt has the Play-by-Play duties while Terry Leahy returns for his 27th season to provide color analysis. You can stream both games on NCHC.tv.

Up Next
      The Mavericks look to advance to the Frozen Faceoff next week in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Jack Attack
      Jack Randl recorded goals in four straight games from Nov. 25 - Dec. 8. It's the second time he's done that in a Maverick sweater and the 29th time in program history. Since the second half started back up at the Desert Hockey Classic, Randl has found the scoresheet in 12 of the 17 games he's played in. He's scored seven goals, added nine assists and is a +9 in those 17 games. The Mavericks are 2-0-0 when scoring a shorthanded goal this season. Both shorthanded tallies have come off the stick of Randl. The Graduate forward has recorded four multi-point games on the campaign. That is tied for second among all Mavericks for the season.

Close Calls
      When the game comes down to it, the Mavericks have prevailed almost all season long. Omaha is 15-1-0 in one goal games this season. They dropped their only one-goal game in the Desert Hockey Classic final to ASU. The loss also marked the program's first and only OT loss of the year.

Finishing Strong
      The Mavericks are unbeaten in their last seven contests and in 11 of their last 12. Over those 12 games, Omaha is 9-1-2. In their last 12 games, they have outscored their opponents 38-27 and are averaging 3.10 goals per game while their opponents are averaging 2.25 gpg.

Lighting the Lamp First
      The Mavericks have had a favorable outcome this season when scoring the first goal. The Mavericks are 16-7 on the campaign when they strike first and 4-3-4 when allowing the first goal.

SOS
      Last season, the Mavericks had the 16th hardest strength of schedule in college hockey among 61 teams as determined by the KRACH ratings.
      During the regular season, Omaha will play four teams that made it to the NCAA Tournament last year in Denver, St. Cloud State, Western Michigan and Ohio State. They currently have the 13th hardest schedule in college hockey. Omaha has played 21 games this season against ranked opponents. The Mavericks have wins over the No. 2, 3, 4, 10, 11 and 14th (twice) ranked teams this season.

Leading Ludtke's
      The Ludtke brothers of Griffin and Tanner are first and fourth in Omaha scoring through 34 games. The brotherly duo has combined for 46 points on the campaign (14 goals and 32 assists). Both brothers have netted game winning goals for the Mavericks and both have come in overtime. In Tanner's last 17 games, he has points in 14 of them. Seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points.
 
Pucks on Net
After 34 games, The Mavericks are 12-1-3 when they outshoot their opponents and are 8-8-1 when being outshot on the campaign.

Closing out the Weekend
      The Mavericks have lost five Friday night games this year. Their response has been a 4-1-1 record so far after falling in the opening game of the weekend. In game 2 of regular season series, Omaha is 10-4-3 in closing out the weekend.

Facing Off
      After 34 games, Omaha is the second ranked faceoff team in the NCHC and the fifth best squad in the NCAA with a win percentage of 54.7.
      Nolan Sullivan currently ranks 3rd in the NCHC in faceoff winning percentage at 60.5 while Ty Mueller sits 10th with a 55.3 percentage. Jimmy Glynn sits just behind him in 12th with a 52.1 percentage. Sullivan and Mueller are second and third in the NCHC respectively in draws won with 370 and 365.

Seeing Multiples
      The Mavericks have had 17 players register a multi-point game this season. Michael Abgrall (1), Brock Bremer (3), Ray Fust (2), Jimmy Glynn (2), Jacob Guevin (1), Jesse Lansdell (1), Jo Lemay (2) Griffin Ludtke (3), Tanner Ludtke (6), Victor Mancini (1), Matt Miller (2), Ty Mueller (4), Kirby Proctor (2), Jack Randl (4), Tyler Rollwagen (1), Nolan Sullivan (1) and Zach Urdahl (4) have all registered multi-point games.

The Cat's Meow
      Sophomore netminder Simon Latkoczy continues to climb the Omaha record books. His 16 campaign wins is tied for sixth most for a single season. He sits T-6 in all-time wins with 27 and T-5 for his four career shutouts. The Trencin, Slovakia native is 10th all-time in minutes played and saves with 1192. At 16-9-3, Latkoczy has the fourth most victories among NCHC netminders. His 2.71 goals against average ranks him fourth while his .907 save percentage is third best in the conference.

Unreal Urdahl
      The junior transfer has been a key addition to the Mavericks this season. In 28 games, he's scored 10 goals and added 10 assists. Three of his goals have been game winners. He has points in eight of his last 10 games.
 
The Opponent
      The No. 10 Colorado College Tigers ended the regular season 20-11-3 and in fourth place in the NCHC. CC is the top faceoff team in the country with a win percent of 55.6. The Tigers are scoring 3.09 goals per game while allowing an average of 2.50 goals per game. That is the second lowest mark in the NCHC.

Special Teams
      CC has the second ranked penalty kill in the NCHC operating at 83.1 percent. Their 15.6 percent power play ranks seventh in the conference and 53rd in the NCAA.

Players To Watch
      Sophomore forward Noah Laba leads the Tigers in points with 35, goals with 19, game winning goals with seven and his +20 rating paces Colorado College. He's netted three shorthanded goals this season which is the third most in the NCAA. Laba was named to the First Team All-NCHC team this week for his sophomore campaign.
      Sophomore forward Gleb Veremyev is second on the team in points with 14 goals and 11 assists in 34 games. Veremyev leads the Tigers in penalties and penalty minutes.
      Sophomore goalie Kaiden Mbereko has started all 34 games this season. Mbereko has won NCHC Goaltender of the Month three consecutive months. His 2.38 goals against average ranks second in the NCHC while his .918 save percentage paces all NCHC netminders. He was also named First Team All-NCHC this week.