This Week
      The No. 11 Omaha Mavericks head North to St. Paul, Minnesota to play in their first NCHC Frozen Faceoff tournament. As the lowest remaining seed, Omaha will play top seeded No. 4 North Dakota in the semifinal round.

The Teams
      The 22-11-4 Mavericks advanced to the Frozen Faceoff last weekend after defeating the No. 10 Colorado College Tigers in three games in the opening round of the NCHC Playoffs. After a heartbreaking defeat in game one, Omaha rallied off two straight victories against the Tigers. The Mavericks bounced back with a 3-1 win on Saturday and 2-1 victory on Sunday where CC held a 1-0 lead for most of the contest.
      The Fighting Hawks took care of business last weekend, sweeping the Miami RedHawks in the NCHC quarterfinal round. They outscored the RedHawks 12-2 on the weekend and enter the Frozen Faceoff as the fourth ranked team in the NCAA.

Last Time Out
      The Mavericks and Fighting Hawks met just a short time ago in the regular season series finale at Baxter Arena. It was a historic weekend for the Mavericks as it marked the first time in program history that they swept their NCHC rival. Omaha defeated UND on Friday 3-2 and 4-1 in the final game of the regular season.

All-Time vs. North Dakota
      The Mavericks and Fighting Hawks are primed for their 60th and 61st meetings all time. The all-time series record is 36-21-2 in favor of North Dakota.

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 watch all games this weekend on CBS Sports Network.

Up Next
      The Mavericks look to advance to the Frozen Faceoff championship On Saturday night before heading to Sioux Falls for the NCAA Regional in which they are the host team.

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 13 of the 20 games he's played in. He's scored eight goals, added nine assists and is a +11 in those 20 games. Randl had a five-game point streak snapped in last weekend's Game 2 against CC. 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 most 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 16-2-0 in one goal games this season. They dropped their second one-goal contest in last Friday's OT loss to CC.

Finishing Strong
      The Mavericks are unbeaten in nine of their last 10 contests and in 13 of their last 15. Over those 15 games, Omaha is 11-2-2. In their last 15 games, they have outscored their opponents 46-33 and are averaging 3.07 goals per game while their opponents are averaging 2.20 gpg.

Lighting the Lamp First
      The Mavericks have had a favorable outcome this season when scoring the first goal. The Mavericks are 17-8 on the campaign when they strike first and 5-3-4 when allowing the first goal. Historically, it's meant more against UND. The team that scores first is 28-3-1 in the last 32 meetings.

SOS
      Last season, the Mavericks had the 16th hardest strength of schedule in college hockey among 64 teams as determined by the KRACH ratings. They currently have the 14th hardest schedule in college hockey. Omaha has played 26 games this season against ranked opponents. The Mavericks have wins over the No. 2, 3, 4, 10 (twice), 11 and 14th (twice) ranked teams this season.

Leading Ludtke's
      The Ludtke brothers of Tanner (11g, 17a) and Griffin (4g, 20a) are first and fourth in Omaha scoring through 37 games. The brotherly duo has combined for 52 points on the campaign (15 goals and 37 assists). Both brothers have netted game winning goals for the Mavericks and both have come in overtime. In Tanner's last 20 games, he has points in 16 of them. Eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points.
 
Pucks on Net
After 37 games, The Mavericks are 12-1-3 when they outshoot their opponents and are 10-9-1 when being outshot on the campaign.

Facing Off
      After 37 games, Omaha is the second ranked faceoff team in the NCHC and the ninth best squad in the NCAA with a win percentage of 53.8.
      Nolan Sullivan currently ranks 2nd in the NCHC in faceoff winning percentage at 59.7 while Ty Mueller sits 10th with a 55.0 percentage. Sullivan and Mueller are second and sixth in the NCHC respectively in draws won with 410 and 365. UND enters the weekend with a 51.3 winning percent on faceoffs. That mark ranks them fourth in the NCHC.

Seeing Multiples
      The Mavericks have had 17 players register a multi-point game this season. Michael Abgrall (1), Brock Bremer (4), 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 18 campaign wins is fifth most for a single season. He sits sixth in all-time wins with 29 and T-5 for his four career shutouts. The Trencin, Slovakia native is 10th all-time in minutes played and saves with 1340. At 18-10-3, Latkoczy has the fourth most victories among NCHC netminders. His 2.62 goals against average ranks him fourth while his .913 save percentage is second best in the conference.

Unreal Urdahl
      The junior transfer has been a key addition to the Mavericks this season. In 31 games, he's scored 10 goals and added 11 assists. Three of his goals have been game winners. All marks are career highs for the junior forward.

Historic Season
      With their 2-1 victory over CC Sunday night, the Mavericks secured their second winningest season in program history with 22 wins. That is only two shy of Mike Kemp's 2004-05 Mavericks who won 24 games.
 
The Opponent
      The No. 4 North Dakota Fighting Hawks enter the Frozen Faceoff with a record of 26-10-2. The top seeded Fighting Hawks raised their sixth Penrose Cup in program history this season. Averaging 3.82 goals per game, they have the eighth ranked scoring offense in the country and seventh best scoring margin at 1.32.

Special Teams
      UND has the second ranked penalty kill in the NCHC operating at 82.4 percent. Their 25.8 power play percent ranks first in the conference and ninth in the NCAA.

Players To Watch
      Sophomore forward Jackson Blake leads the NCHC with 57 points. That sits him second in the NCAA, one point shy of the national lead. In 38 games played, Blake has netted 21 goals and tallied 36 helpers. His 21 goals are fifth most in the conference. He was named a Hobey Baker top-10 finalist this week.
      Sophomore forward Owen McLaughlin is second on the team in points with 13 goals and 24 assists in 37 games. Four of his 12 goals have come on the power play.
    Senior goalie Ludvig Persson has started 33 games this season. His 21 wins is tied for first among all NCHC goaltenders and fourth in the NCAA. His 2.47 goals against average is third best in the NCHC while his .906 save percentage puts him fourth. Persson was named Second-Team All-NCHC for the 2023-24 season.