#4/#6 North Dakota (12-4-0) hosts unranked Omaha (6-8-0) at Ralph Engelstad Arena this weekend to close out the first half of the season.
Just five weeks ago, the Fighting Hawks traveled down I-29 to square off with the Mavericks and pulled off a road sweep by final scores of 7-2 and 4-1.
It might not be that easy this time around.
UND will be without the services of two stellar freshmen – forward Cole Reschny (2-16-18) and defenseman Keaton Verhoeff (4-7-11). The pair – teammates with the Victoria Royals of the WHL for each of the past two seasons – flew out to Ontario this morning to join Hockey Canada’s World Junior Championship camp.
In the sweep at Omaha in early November, Reschny scored Saturday night’s game-winning goal and added four assists on the weekend; he was named the NCHC Forward of the Week. Verhoeff also notched an assist and registered three shots on goal while logging nearly nineteen minutes of ice time in the opener and over twenty minutes in the rematch; Verhoeff finished with a plus-3 rating.
Reschny was a first-round draft pick (#18 overall) of the Calgary Flames in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft; Verhoeff is widely expected to go in the top five in next year’s draft (June 26th and 27th, 2026).
After an up-and-down October (4-3-0), North Dakota lost only once during the month of November, a 4-2 home setback at the hands of the Arizona State Sun Devils. UND’s surge can be traced back to a Halloween night comeback at home against #5 Minnesota Duluth, which featured an extra-attacker goal with just 71 seconds remaining in the hockey game. Despite losing on a fluky goal during the 3-on-3 overtime session, the Fighting Hawks surged into November, outscoring opponents 30-14 while posting a record of 6-1-0.
The Green and White followed that up with an impressive road sweep at St. Cloud State (4-3, 4-2) to open December and – at 5th in the NCAA Percentage Index (NPI) – have a chance to all-but-lock up a national tourney bid with good results this weekend.
UND is nine years removed from its eighth national championship but has made the national tournament in just four of the past eight seasons. That track record – and some early playoff exits – led to a coaching change, and Dane Jackson is now leading the charge.
In the NCHC preseason poll, UND was picked to finish in third place (behind Western Michigan and Denver), while the Mavericks were tabbed to end up in seventh (ahead of only St. Cloud State and Miami). With the addition of St. Thomas to the NCHC (and a new schedule format) beginning in 2026-2027, the Fighting Hawks and Mavericks will no longer be guaranteed four regular-season games each year.
Omaha head coach Mike Gabinet is now in his ninth season behind the bench, and he has only led the Mavericks to two NCAA tournament appearances – once in the COVID-shortened 2020-2021 season and once two years ago. Both of those playoff bids came to an abrupt end at the hands of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who dispatched Omaha 7-2 in the 2021 West Regional semifinal (Loveland, Colorado) and edged the Mavericks 3-2 in the 2024 Midwest Regional semifinal (Sioux Falls, South Dakota).
Last season, Omaha finished in the top half of the NCHC but was done in by a less-than-stellar non-conference record of 4-6-0, including home losses to Augustana (twice), Lindenwood, and UMass-Lowell and a road sweep at the hands of Minnesota State.
The NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past twelve seasons. The nine teams in the league have gone 587-302-80 (.647) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent fifteen teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, Denver and Duluth in 2019, Duluth and St. Cloud State in 2021, Denver in 2022 and 2024, and Denver and Western Michigan in 2025 over that nine-year stretch (there was no national tournament in 2020). Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017, 2022, 2024), Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019), and Western Michigan (2025) have won seven of the last nine national titles.
So far this season, the NCHC has won nearly seventy percent of its non-conference games (47-21-1) and has four teams (#4 North Dakota, #5 Minnesota Duluth, #6 Denver, and #7 Western Michigan) positioned in the top ten in the latest rankings, with #19 Colorado College also appearing in the poll.
Miami, Arizona State, and St. Cloud State are receiving votes; Omaha is not.
With similar success in the second half of the season, the league could easily send four or even five teams to this year’s NCAA tournament in March. UND is 6-2 in non-conference action in the 2025-26 season, with an early January home series vs. Mercyhurst (0-15-1, 63rd of 63 teams in the NPI) the only interleague games remaining on the regular season schedule.
Last season, the Fighting Hawks and Mavericks ended the regular season by splitting a pair of games at Ralph Engelstad Arena. The following weekend – with the season on the line for both teams – UND swept a pair of games at Omaha by identical 3-2 scores. North Dakota’s season would end six days later at the hands of eventual national champion Western Michigan at the last-ever NCHC Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minnesota, a 4-2 defeat that would cost former head coach Brad Berry his job.
On the final weekend of the 2022-2023 regular season, North Dakota swept Omaha (5-4 OT, 2-1). The Fighting Hawks dropped Game One of the playoff series in Omaha by a final score of 2-1 before winning two straight (3-1, 5-2) and advancing to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minnesota.
On January 12th and 13th, 2024, UND took four of six league points in a home series against Omaha, falling 5-4 in overtime on Friday night before rebounding for a 3-1 regulation win in Saturday’s rematch. The disappointing thing about the series opener is that North Dakota led 3-1 after the first period. The Mavericks won the middle frame decisively, however, outscoring the homestanding Hawks 3-1. Both teams scored twice with the man advantage. Omaha scored just 34 seconds into the 3-on-3 overtime session to grab the extra league point.
Saturday’s finale was a bit more of a defensive struggle, with Omaha tying the game at one goal apiece just 49 seconds into the third period. UND’s Dylan James scored the game-winner three minutes later, and former Maverick Cameron Berg iced the game with an empty-net goal in the final thirty seconds. North Dakota outshot Omaha 30-23 on Saturday night and 69-47 on the weekend.
Turning our attention to this weekend…
A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and Mike Gabinet’s squad has just seven lineup regulars who meet that threshold: sophomore forward Maxime Pellerin (6-3-9), freshman forward Luke Woodworth (3-7-10), freshman forward Marcus Nguyen (3-5-8), sophomore forward Sean Tschigerl (3-6-9), sophomore forward Brett Hyland (2-5-7), senior defenseman Griffin Ludtke (0-9-9), and junior defenseman Aidan de la Gorgendiere (2-5-7).
Freshman forward Jeremy Loranger has notched three assists in his first six collegiate games, but he has not played since November 1st against Colorado College.
As mentioned above, North Dakota will be without two key offensive producers – Cole Reschny and Keaton Verhoeff – this weekend, but Dane Jackson is certain to have eight players in the lineup this weekend who have met same offensive threshold: senior forward Ben Strinden (9-8-17), freshman forward Will Zellers (10-5-15), sophomore forward Mac Swanson (4-9-13), senior forward Dylan James (8-3-11), freshman forward Ollie Josephson (3-7-10), sophomore forward Cade Littler (4-4-8), junior defenseman Abram Wiebe (2-9-11), and junior defenseman Jake Livanavage (3-10-13).
Livanavage scored a key shorthanded goal last Saturday night at St. Cloud State to break a 2-2 tie with 7:04 remaining in the third period and added an empty-netter exactly seven minutes later to ice the victory.
North Dakota senior forward Ben Strinden was white hot heading into the UND/SCSU series, with eight goals and five assists over the past eight games. Strinden was held off the scoresheet at the Herb Brooks Center.
Two other UND forwards – senior Ellis Rickwood (1-7-8 in 11 games) and Josh Zakreski (1-2-3 in six games played) have been dealing with injury; Rickwood has participated in practice this week and is probable to return to the lineup this weekend; Zakreski was having a promising start to his rookie campaign but suffered a lower body injury early last month in practice, had surgery, and is expected to be out long-term.
One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. Through sixteen games, the Fighting Hawks have won 51.8% of faceoffs, good for 17th in the country. Through their fourteen games, the Mavericks are 54thin the nation (46.9%).
UND will certainly miss Cole Reschny this weekend; the freshman phenom has won 145 of his262 draws this season (55.3%). If portal transfer Ellis Rickwood (who played the past three years at Clarkson) can return to the lineup against the Mavericks, that would be a tremendous help. Rickwood has won 119 of 190 (62.6%). North Dakota freshman Ollie Josephson (115 of 230, 50%) has been steady.
For the Mavericks, no one has been all that effective, with freshman Luke Woodworth (64 of 126, 50.8%), sophomore Sean Tschigerl (71 of 160, 44.4%), and senior Tyler Rollwagen (78 of 169, 46.2%) sharing the load.
Not only will North Dakota start with the puck more often than not in this series, they will also hold on to it. In the early part of the 2025-2025 campaign, the Fighting Hawks have far outpaced the Mavericks in two key puck possession statistics:
North Dakota: 14th in both Corsi (54.0%) and Fenwick (53.9%)
Omaha: 48th in both Corsi (46.6%) Fenwick (46.3%)
Corsi measures the share of shot attempts for each team at even strength, while Fenwick measures the share of unblocked shot attempts for each team at even strength.
To this point in the season, the Green and White have had far the better of the specialty teams play. North Dakota is a combined +7, with eighteen power play goals scored (18 for 60, 30.0%, 4th) and eleven power play goals allowed (45 of 56, 80.4%, 32nd). UND has both scored and allowed four shorthanded goals through the first fourteen games of the season.
Mike Gabinet’s squad is at a minus-4, with ten power play goals scored (10 for 45, 22.2%, 22nd in the country) and fifteen power play goals allowed (38 of 53, 71.7%, 60th). Omaha has also scored one shorthanded goal while not allowing one to opponents.
On Friday, November 7th in Omaha, the Fighting Hawks went 4-for-8 with the man advantage and held the Mavericks to just one power play goal on four chances.
One night later, the Mavs held the advantage by going 1-for-3 on the power play and holding North Dakota scoreless on two opportunities.
Through sixteen games, the Green and White have blocked 200 shots (12.5 per game), led by Bennett Zmolek with 23 and Jake Livanavage with 22. Zmolek has been out of the lineup each of the past two weekends; Zmolek’s 23 blocks have come in just twelve games.
Omaha has blocked 135 shots in its fourteen games (9.6/game), with Jacob Guevin (20), Marc Ljoie (16), and Marcus Broberg (12) leading the charge.
North Dakota’s defensive corps has provided plenty of production from the back end, already notching eleven goals and adding 34 assists in 111 combined games (0.41 points per game). On this front, Dane Jackson will certainly miss Keaton Verhoeff, the freshman leads all UND blueliners with four goals, and his eleven points are tied for second.
In his absence, the Fighting Hawks will rely on two juniors – Jake Livanavage (3-10-13) and Abram Wiebe (2-9-11).
Verhoeff is widely expected to go in the top three of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, while Livanavage (4-24-28) and Wiebe (4-20-24) were two of UND’s top four point-getters a season ago.
Sophomore defenseman EJ Emery – a first round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft – notched the first two goals of his collegiate career in a 5-2 win against Minnesota back in October.
Not to be outdone, Omaha’s blueliners have scored ten goals and 23 assists in 94 combined games (0.52 points/game), led by senior Griffin Ludtke (0-9-9), junior Aidan de la Gorgendiere (2-5-7), and sophomore Marc Lajoie (4-2-6).
Not only have North Dakota’s defensemen been producing offensively, first-year head coach Dane Jackson has also put together an impressive mix of defenders he can trust in any situation. As a unit, UND’s defensemen have allowed a total of just 386 shots on goal this season in fourteen games (24.1/game, 3rd-best in the country), while Omaha has allowed 474 (33.9, 55th).
The Mavericks are allowing 3.50 goals per game this season (51st in the nation), while North Dakota is allowing just 2.44 (13th). On the offensive side, UND is scoring 3.81 goals per game (5th), while Omaha has managed just 2.79 goals per game (38th).
Sometimes it is difficult to dissect numbers like those above, so here it is in plain terms: in sixteen games, UND has outscored opponents 61-39. In its fourteen games, Omaha has been outscored 39-49.
Fighting Hawks’ graduate netminder Gibson Homer (4-4-0, 2.78 goals-against average, .882 save percentage) started each of the first four games of the season and then split the next four weekends with freshman Jan Spunar (8-0-0, 1.75 GAA, .929 SV%, one shutout) before giving way to Spunar entirely over the past two weekends (home-and-home with Bemidji State and at St. Cloud State). I would expect Spunar to get the start in Friday’s opener against Omaha.
After this weekend, UND will be off until January 2nd and 3rd vs. Mercyhurst. North Dakota will resume NCHC play at Colorado College the following weekend.
Omaha will travel to face Augustana next weekend and Cornell in early January before hosting St. Cloud State on January 9th and 10th.
In the second half of the season, both teams have fourteen conference games remaining. Through eight league games, North Dakota (6-1-0-1, 19 points) sits in second place in the NCHC, two points behind Denver. At 3-5-0-0 and with nine points, Omaha is in sixth place.
Omaha Team Profile
Head Coach: Mike Gabinet (9th season at UNO, 141-139-19, .503)
National Rankings: #NR/NR
NPI Ranking: 32nd
KRACH: 148.5 (21st)
This Season: 6-8-0 overall, 3-5-0-0 NCHC (6th)
Last Season: 18-17-1 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 13-8-2-1 NCHC (4th)
Team Offense: 2.79 goals scored/game – 38th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 3.50 goals allowed/game – 51st of 63 teams
Power Play: 22.2% (10 of 45)– 38th of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 71.7% (38 of 53)– 60th of 63 teams
Key Players: Sophomore F Maxime Pellerin (6-3-9), Freshman F Luke Woodworth (3-7-10), Freshman F Marcus Nguyen (3-5-8), Sophomore F Sean Tschigerl (3-6-9), Senior F Tyler Rollwagen (3-2-5), Senior D Griffin Ludtke (0-9-9), Junior D Aidan de la Gorgendiere (2-5-7), Sophomore D Marc Lajoie (4-2-6), Senior D Jacob Guevin (2-2-4), Senior G Simon Latkoczy (4-7-0, 3.57 GAA, .894 SV%)
North Dakota Team Profile
Head Coach: Dane Jackson (1st season at North Dakota, 12-4-0, .750)
National Rankings: #4/#6
NPI Ranking: 5th
KRACH: 454.8 (5th)
This Season: 12-4-0 overall, 6-1-0-1 NCHC (2nd)
Last Season: 21-15-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 11-8-4-1 NCHC (5th)
2025-26 Season Statistics:
Team Offense: 3.81 goals scored/game – 5th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 2.44 goals allowed/game – 13th of 63 teams
Power Play: 30.0% (18 of 60) – 4th of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 80.4% (45 of 56) – 32nd of 63 teams
Key Players: Senior F Ben Strinden (9-8-17), Freshman F Will Zellers (10-5-15), Senior F Dylan James (8-3-11), Sophomore F Mac Swanson (4-9-13), Freshman F Ollie Josephson (3-7-10), Junior D Jake Livanavage (3-10-13), Junior D Abram Wiebe (2-9-11), G Jan Spunar (8-0-0, 1.75 GAA, .929 SV%, 1 SO)
By The Numbers
Last Meeting: November 8, 2025 (Omaha, NE). One night after putting on a power play clinic (four goals on eight attempts) and winning 7-2, it was a much closer affair, with the hosts trailing just 2-1 after two periods of play. Despite outshooting UND 11-5 in the final frame, the Mavericks could not find the equalizer and instead gave up two goals just ninety seconds apart over the final five minutes of the hockey game. Gibson Homer stopped 34 of 35 shots for his best performance of the season.
Last Meeting in Grand Forks: March 8, 2025. It was an odd game to close the home portion of the North Dakota hockey season, as two late goals (19:25 of the first period and 19:40 of the second period) were too much for UND to overcome. As is so often the case in this rivalry, the Fighting Hawks outshot the visitors 37-26 and led in expected goals (3.1-2.8) but fell behind 4-0 and could not recover. Wisconsin transfer Sam Stange had two goals, two assists, and two penalty minutes for Omaha.
Most Memorable Meeting: The game that UND fans will long remember is the outdoor game played at TD Ameritrade Park (Omaha, Nebraska) on February 9th, 2013. One day after winning a tight 2-1 contest indoors, North Dakota throttled UNO 5-2 on a sunny, melty afternoon. Mavericks netminder John Faulkner was pulled after allowing three goals on five shots in just ten minutes of game action. In my opinion, this hockey weekend solidified the notion that for UND hockey, it’s always a home game.
Last Ten: North Dakota has won six of the past ten tilts between the teams, including three of the four games played last season and a road sweep at Omaha last month. UND has outscored the Mavericks 32-29 over the past ten games.
All-Time: UND leads the all-time series 41-23-2 (.636), including a record of 20-11-1 (.641) in Grand Forks. The teams first met on November 19, 2010.
Game News and Notes
Over the past four weekends of game action, Omaha is just 2-6-0 while scoring just fifteen goals and allowing thirty; the Mavericks have scored more than two goals exactly once in that stretch. Eleven seasons ago, both North Dakota and Omaha advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four but neither team made the championship game. UND fell to Boston University 5-3, while the Mavericks were upended 4-1 by eventual national champion Providence. In team history, the Mavericks have made the national tournament five times (2006, 2011, 2015, 2021, 2024), with a Frozen Four appearance under head coach Dean Blais in 2015. In 32 of the past 39 contests in this series, the winning team is the one which scores the first goal. This season, North Dakota is 9-2-0 (.818) when scoring first; Omaha, 4-4-0 (.500). UND’s Dylan James has nine goals and twelve points in his eighteen career games against the Mavericks.
On A Personal Note
Ralph Engelstad Arena is hosting “Hockey Fights Cancer” weekend during this series, and this is especially meaningful to me as an 1177-day cancer survivor. No one fights alone.
The Prediction
The underlying metrics all seem to favor North Dakota. If UND was at full strength (injury-free and with the services of Cole Reschny and Keaton Verhoeff), these would be fairly easy picks to make. As it is, though, there will be some adjustments on Friday night, with new players in the lineup filling new and expanded roles. This will be problematic for the Fighting Hawks, and goaltending will need to be excellent until some of the other areas come into focus. It has been an excellent first half, but I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that North Dakota will drop the opener in this one before rebounding for a series split and an overall record of 13-5-0 heading into the holiday break. Omaha 3-2, UND 5-1.
Broadcast Information
Both games this weekend will be broadcast live on Midco Sports and will also be available online at NCHC.tv. All UND men’s hockey games can be heard on stations across the Fighting Hawks Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. Central Time on Friday night and 6:07 p.m. Central Time on Saturday night.
Social Media
Keep up with the action live during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also read the action via Brad Schlossman’s live chat on the Grand Forks Herald website.
As always, thank you for reading. I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.