It was a historic win for the University of Nebraska Omaha, but even more so for junior forward Zach Urdahl, who scored his first college hat trick. 

“Feels pretty great,” Urdahl said. “I mean, first win, first game, here in the Frozen Faceoff, and to get our first win, especially against North Dakota. It is pretty awesome.”  

Urdahl scored three of the Mavericks’ six goals in their 6-3 victory over the number one seed University of North Dakota. It was UNO’s first appearance in the Frozen Faceoff and their first win in the NCHC semi-finals.  

Even though the Mavericks dominated the game, UND opened the scoring. Jackson Kunz buried a pass from Jackson Blake to give UND its only lead and Blake his 100th career point.  

UND head coach Brad Berry said that getting an early lead was in the game plan, but the quality of play that followed was not.  

“First period, we got the lead. That is what we wanted right away early in the game,” Berry said. “And [then] I thought our puck management going through the middle of the rink was questionable.”  

Urdahl’s first goal of the game tied the score at one with only a minute and thirty seconds left in the first period, giving the Maverick’s increased momentum going into the second period.  

Omaha head coach Mike Gabinet said UNO’s ability to score that bounce-back goal came from a season-long focus on responding the right way to difficult situations.  

“It is a tough start to the game there, but I thought that the next four or five shifts after that were really good, really establishing the way we want to play,” Gabinet said. “So that is all you can do when those things happen, respond appropriately. And that is exactly what the guys did.”  

Urdahl’s tying goal was the start of the defining pattern of the game; anytime UND tried to gain positive momentum, Omaha crushed it.  

In the second period, Matt Miller and Jimmy Glynn scored, and Simon Latkoczy made a fantastic save on Blake to give Omaha the 3-1 lead late into the second. Miller’s goal, which was assisted by Urdahl, was one of four goals scored by UNO’s second line in the game.  

Miller, a 5th year forward, said that belief was a key reason for the second line’s productivity.  

“No matter if we are up or down, just the belief and the level of mindset of just everybody doing their job and calling for one another,” Miller said. “One after another, we are relentless.”  

UND did manage to answer back with Hunter Johannes scoring in the last 30 seconds of the period, but against a UNO team with a 16-2-0 record in one-goal games, it was not enough.  

Brock Bremer scored one minute into the third to restore Omaha’s two-goal lead. Even though UND brought the game back within one on the powerplay, Urdahl scored his second goal of the game a minute later to maintain the Mavericks’ two-goal lead.  

“They got some crazy firepower, so us being able to respond like that was really key,” said Gabinet. “It was not just one-line responding. We were able to have multiple players responding to situations. That allowed us to weather the storm and get back to playing to our game plan.”  

The final nail in UND’s coffin came once again off the stick of Urdahl, who buried the empty-net goal to complete his hat trick and the upset of Penrose Champion North Dakota.  

Urdahl gave some insight into what was working for him offensively in his four-point performance against UND.  

“They were just kind of finding me,” he said. “Standing around the net, the guys gave me the puck, and I was able to put it in.”   

Urdahl has had six points against the Fighting Hawks this season.  

UNO swept UND to end the regular season and won the season series against UND 3-1. While Gabinet does not want to share too much of “the game plan,” he highlighted some of the reasons that Omaha has become such a formidable opponent for top-ranked teams like North Dakota.  

“It is about where you give those guys the puck and looking at how they create offense. You got to know how they do that and make sure you do the opposite,” Gabinet said. “So just really stick to the game plan there. The guys executed really well… everybody’s working together, and when that happens, good things happen.”  

Omaha went on to lose 4-1 to Denver in the finals. UND and Omaha will play in the National Tournament, which starts this week.  

Maeve Hushman is a Dakota Student Sports Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].