After taking the greater share of the points away from the final weekend of the regular season, North Dakota returned home victorious, having hoisted the Penrose Cup and secured the No. 1 seed for the NCHC tournament.
The next test for the Hawks? An Omaha side fighting for survival.
Penrose Party
UND took home its seventh Penrose Cup after a 5-3 victory in the series opener against Western Michigan. After the win, North Dakota rested three of its starters in the series finale, battling the Broncos to earn a point.
“We still wanted to win,” said Cole Reschny (Fr.) after the game. “They still wanted to win — that was a good game.”
David Klee (Fr.) made his return from injury on Saturday night, getting crucial game time before UND’s playoff push. The winger from Castle Rock, Colo., scored a tying goal in the finale after suiting up as the extra skater for the Hawks.
Forward Cole Reschny tallied his thirtieth point (5-26—31) of the season in the series opener, the first North Dakota freshman to crest the 30-point mark this season. Will Zellers (Fr.) sits four points back from Reschny (17-10—27), looking increasingly likely to jump the hurdle.
Mac Swanson (So.) tallied an assist on Saturday to extend his scoring streak, having scored three points (2-1—3) in his last three. Also on a three-game scoring streak is Ben Strinden (1-4—5), who scored a goal in the second game and dutifully handed out two assists on the road trip.
Gibson Homer (Gr.) and Jan Špunar (Fr.) split time over the weekend, backstopping the Hawks in sub-30 save games. Homer played less than an hour away from his hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich., on Saturday, the first time he had done so in his career. The graduate student turned away 28 in the series finale, six more than Špunar the night before.
“Both of our goalies have been consistently strong,” Dane Jackson said. “I don’t think we’ve had too many poor starts. We feel good about that part of our game.”
“Rivals” Avoid Relegation
Mike Gabinet’s Omaha team has been incredibly resilient as of late, picking up unlikely results both in Omaha and on the road. Over the past few weeks, the Mavericks have faced Colorado College, Denver, Western Michigan, and Arizona State, taking away splits from three of the four series.
“I just want to give our team a lot of credit,” the Omaha boss reflected. “We’ve been playing pretty intense games right down [to] the last six weeks here, and we’ve found ways to get some big wins every weekend…You want to keep playing. You never want your season to end.”
The Mavericks (12-22-0, 8-16-0 NCHC) found themselves the benefactors of the final weekend’s schedule, as Denver unceremoniously swept fellow bottom-fighters ASU. Omaha made the cut after winning the first game of the weekend against a competitive Miami side 5-3 at the Baxter Arena.
UNO was propelled to victory by its senior class on Friday night, with four of its five goals coming from its graduating class. Seniors Jacob Guévin (1-1—2) and Jacob Slipec (1-1—2) recorded multi-point games, propelling their team off the bottom.
In the season finale, Marcus Nguyen (Fr.) recorded his third goal in four games, leading the team with 11 goals this season. Sophomore Maxime Pellerin (8-12—20) leads the team in points, having picked up two assists over the weekend.
Simon Latkoczy (Sr.) made 38 saves over the weekend, proving once again why he was Omaha’s nominee for the 2026 Hobey Baker Award and was named NCHC goaltender of the week twice.
“My game has been consistent,” Latkoczy told the media on Tuesday. “I think that my game is in a really good spot and I’m really excited for this weekend.”
The Mavericks have faced North Dakota in the NCHC playoffs in the last three seasons, meeting for the fourth time — and the first in Grand Forks — tonight. The Fighting Hawks hold a 6-2-0 record over Omaha in postseason play.
Quick Quips
- “Reset and get onto the next.” Dane Jackson said his team is focused on the challenge ahead. The mindset after the overtime loss in Kalamazoo was one of reflection on the season, but not obsession over the result. The 25-8-1 regular-season was one of the best in recent years, with only the 2015/16, 2019/20, and 2023/24 teams holding better records in the last 10 seasons.
- “It feels like we’ve been in playoffs.” The NCHC is not an easy place to play. Expanding on his coach’s comments earlier in the press conference, Andrew Strathmann (So.) took to the podium to reiterate just how challenging the regular-season has been for the team, which was the only NCHC side to avoid being swept.
- “I’m definitely excited.” Josh Zakreski (Fr.) returned just in time to score two goals in his last three games leading up to the postseason. The forward joined the lineup for the first time since October on Feb. 20 against St. Cloud State, scoring the game-opener on his first shift back. The Saskatoon, Sask. native is ready for the challenge that awaits.
Personnel Updates
- North Dakota remains healthy this week. Bennett Zmolek, Jake Livanavage, and Josh Zakreski were rested as a precaution on Saturday, but will return this week to start the postseason campaign.
The first postseason series will begin in Grand Forks at 7:07 p.m. tonight. In the Saturday edition of the quarterfinal series, puck drop will take place at 6:07 p.m. If a third game is required, it will start at 6:07 p.m. on Sunday. Quarterfinal games will be aired on Midco Sports Two and available for streaming on NCHC.tv, with a special Playoff Pass for $39.95 during the NCHC playoffs. As always, a stream will be available for audio listeners on the Fighting Hawks Radio Network via iHeart Radio, the Fighting Hawks website, or on 96.1 FM (The Fox) for local listeners.
Anthony Dillett is a Dakota Student Sports Reporter. He can be reached at [email protected] and on X @adillettgf.