#19  North Dakota Fighting Hawks vs. Omaha Mavericks
Friday, Mar. 8 • 7:37 pm (CT) • Ralph Engelstad Arena (11,634) • Grand Forks, N.D.
Saturday, Mar. 9 • 7:07 pm (CT) • Ralph Engelstad Arena (11,634) • Grand Forks, N.D.
TV: Midco SportsNet/Fox College Sports
Radio: Home of Economy Radio Network
Webcast: NCHC.tv
Live stats: www.fightinghawks.com
 
THIS WEEKEND:
North Dakota closes out the regular season with a home series against Omaha with huge playoff implications on the line. UND is still in the hunt for a first-round home series, needing to out-point Western Michigan by five points this weekend to grab fourth place and hosting rights for next week's NCHC quarterfinal round.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
Single-game tickets remain available for his game. Tickets can be purchased at the UND Box Office at Ralph Engelstad Arena or online at FightingHawks.com/tickets.
 
Additional seats may become available on 'Ticket Release Thursday.'
 
BROADCAST INFORMATION
This series will be telecast live on Midco Sports Network, with play-by-play voice Alex Heinert, color analyst Jake Brandt and rinkside reporter Katie Hale on the call. The games will also be available via streaming at NCHC.tv.
 
All UND men's hockey games, home and away, can be heard on stations across the UND Sports Home of Economy Radio Network, as well as through the iHeart Radio app. The flagship station for the network is 96.1 FM (The Fox). Longtime broadcaster Tim Hennessy, in his 40th season as the voice of UND men's hockey, calls the action while Steve Olson provides color analysis.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Receive live updates during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also follow the action via live chat via the Grand Forks Herald's UND hockey beat writer Brad Schlossman's blog.
 
SERIES HISTORY
North Dakota owns an all-time mark of 20-11-1 (.641) against Omaha, with the Fighting Hawks claiming a 15-8-1 (.646) mark since the teams joined the NCHC. The teams split the earlier series this season with UND winning, 4-3, on Jan. 18 and Omaha claiming a 4-3 win of its own the following night at Baxter Arena.  UND is 9-6-1 (.594) against Omaha all-time at the Ralph.
 
OMAHA COACHING STAFF
Mike Gabinet is in his second season as head coach of the Mavericks, posting a 26-37-5 record all-time at his alma mater. The 2004 graduate of Omaha served as an associate head coach during the 2016-17 season before being elevated to the head coach position last season.
Gabinet returned to Omaha after four seasons at NAIT in Edmonton, Alberta, the last as its head coach. That season, he led the Ooks to a 36-0-0 record and the ACAC Championship. He was named the conference Coach of the Year and became the first rookie head coach in Canadian college hockey to guide his team to an undefeated record.
 
Gabinet, a standout defenseman for the Mavericks from 2000-04, is assisted by Dave Noel-Bernier (Omaha, 2001) and Paul Jerrard (Lake Superior State, 1987).
 
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
The Mavericks are 9-20-3 overall and 5-15-2 in conference play heading into this weekend. Omaha is tied with Miami (who plays Western Michigan this week) for the seventh spot in the league standings with two games to play.
Omaha has allowed a league-high 82 goals in conference play this season, while scoring the second-fewest (51).
 
Senior forward Mason Morelli (Minot, N.D.) leads the Mavs with 32 points and 19 goals. He has just five goals on the road, however, this season as the Mavericks are 2-11-1 away from Baxter Arena. Morelli is the son of UND letterwinner Matt Morelli (1987-91) and the grandson of UND Hall of Famer Reggie Morelli (1957-60).
 
Fredrick Olofsson is second on the team with 31 points (10-21--31) while Taylor Ward (8-18--26), Zach Jordan (7-17--24) and Dean Stewart (5-15--20) make up the rest of the scoring punch for UNO.
 
In net, Evan Weninger has started all but one game, compiling an .897 save percentage with a 3.56 goals-against average. Former UND player Matej Tomek has seen time in five games, making one start with a 4.73 GAA.
 
LAST MEETINGS BETWEEN THESE TEAMS:
North Dakota let a pair of two-goals lead slip in a split at Baxter Arena, Jan. 18-19. North Dakota took a 3-1 advantage Friday only to see Omaha tie it early in the third UND freshman forward Jackson Keane was the hero with a goal at the 18:50 mark for the game-winning tally and a 4-3 North Dakota win.
 
Saturday, UND again took a 3-1 lead, combating an early Omaha marker with three goals in just over three minutes spanning the first and second periods. However, the Mavs answered with three of their own, including the game-tying and game-winning goals in a 1:20 span midway through the third to steal the win.
 
LAST SERIES
North Dakota split a series in Colorado Springs, Colo., last week. Colorado College prevailed, 3-1, Friday with solid special teams play. CC scored twice on the power play and killed off all seven UND man-advantage chances en route to the win. Saturday, sophomore goaltender Peter Thome sparkled, making a pair of first-period goals hold up in a 2-1 win. Thome was just 2:09 from a shutout, kicking aside 24 of 25 shots, including 11 in the third period alone. 
 
OK, HERE'S THE SITUATION...
North Dakota has hopes still alive to finish in the top half of the league standings and with it, an opportunity to host the quarterfinal round of the NCHC playoffs. To achieve this, North Dakota needs to finish ahead of Western Michigan, which sits in fourth with 35 points. North Dakota has 31 points heading into the final weekend, but would lose a tie-breaker to WMU, so would need to finish with at least one more point.
 
Omaha, meanwhile, is tied for seventh with Miami, each with 18 points. Colorado College, with 24 points, has locked up the six spot as it wins tie-breakers against both schools.
 
POLL POSITION
UND inched up to No. 19 in the March 4th USCHO.com poll, one spot higher than last week. North Dakota did not appear in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll also released this week.
 
STRONG NCHC FLAVOR IN THE POLLS
Not only does St. Cloud State top both polls, but two other NCHC teams find themselves in the top 10 and five total teams are in the national rankings. Minnesota Duluth sits at No. 3 in both polls, Denver is sixth, Western Michigan is 12th (USCHO)/13th (USA Today) and UND checks in at No. 19 in USCHO's poll.

 
**For the complete release (PDF), click here**