By Cooper Schroeder · The Mavericks officially had their ticket punched to head to the ACHA Division III National Tournament in Missouri. UNO will first be playing three g…
The Mavericks officially had their ticket punched to head to the ACHA Division III National Tournament in Missouri.
UNO will first be playing three games in pool play, with their opponents being Dordt, Calvin University and Purdue University. The winner in each of the four pools will move on to the semi finals. Let’s take a quick look at the Mavs as well as their foes in the upcoming matchups:
Freshman Blake Glaser and junior Cam Forys were both named to the Mid-American Silver All-Conference team. As well, while Omaha was the runner-up in the MACHA championship, losing to Dordt University, they have been having an amazing season. They have already won the West Division of their conference, the Nebraska Cup, Big 10 Classic and have earned the final ranking of #9 in the entire nation! The Mavs have 27 wins already this season going into Nationals. The Mavericks are poised to do some real damage in St. Louis as they will be playing their first pool play game on Wednesday, March 18th.
UNO carries a very impressive goalie tandem with senior Nahuel Veyan and sophomore Cam Moore. Veyan boasts a record of 12-3, a Goals Against Average of 1.47 and Save Percentage of .949. Moore with 10 wins, 2 losses. Having a GAA of 1.73 and .937 SV%. Four skaters are over a point per game, being Glaser, Ryan Hedquist, Charlie Lowndes and Tyler Schirmer. The team has combined for 198 goals and only given up 75 goals. Also, they have been 8-2 in their last ten games played.
Now, Calvin University is the top ranked team in the nation. Having also captured the title for the Michigan Collegiate Hockey Conference. They come in at 18-1-1. The Knights beat Oakland University for the MCHC championship and have been led by a few strong players this season. Goaltender senior Ryan Worosz has 13 wins to his name, with a 1.32 GAA and a .957 SV%. Sophomore Nate Sova led the way in points as he had 33 in only 23 games. Junior Myles Radersma with 30 in 21, as well as sophomore Zach Westrick with 25 in 22.
Dordt University is an opponent that we are very familiar with having just played them in the MACHA title game. The victors of that game finished just above UNO with a #8 ranking. Holding a record of 27-2. They also had three of their players named to the MACHA All-conference team: Rylan Veenstra, Zach Espenson and Tim Nanson. The Defenders will be the Mavs’ first opponent at Nationals.
Rounding out this pool of teams is Purdue University. The Boilermakers won their respective conference title for the Indiana Collegiate Hockey Conference. Beating the Miami University Redhawks. They hold an overall record of 25-8-1. Also being ranked at #16 and being led by their senior forward Benjamin Tobey as he scored 48 points in 34 games. Purdue also has a strong goalie tandem with Ben Norris (2.49 GAA and .914 SV%) and Andrew Mittnacht (2.35 GAA and .916 SV%) The two combined for 24 wins.
Mavericks Pool Play Schedule (all times Central):
Dordt on March 18th at 2 pm
Calvin on March 19th at 5:15 pm
Purdue on March 20th at 11:15 am
All games will be available, live and on-demand, to watch on FloHockey.tv (subscription required)