GameCenter final: Omaha 6, UND 3
Mar. 22—ST. PAUL, Minn. — Omaha forward Zach Urdahl tallied a hat trick and an assist as the Mavericks beat UND 6-3 to advance to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff championship game. UND fell to 1-6 in semifinal games in the Twin Cities in the NCHC era.
First star: Zach Urdahl, Omaha, 3 goals, 4 points.
Second star: Jesse Lansdell, Omaha, 3 assists.
Third star: Matt Miller, Omaha, 1 goal, 2 assists.
UND 1, Omaha 0 — Jackson Kunz 8 (Jackson Blake, Owen McLaughlin) 1:18. UND scores on the second shift of the game and, of course, Blake is right in the middle of it. McLaughlin enteres the zone and skates it in the left circle. He throws a pass toward the crease. Blake spots the loose puck and makes a terrific poke to Kunz on top of the crease. Kunz hammers it home for his 12th point in the last 14 games. It's Blake's 100th-career point. He's the first sophomore to hit that mark since Zach Parise.
UND 1, Omaha 0 — Zach Urdahl 11 (Jesse Lansdell, Jacob Guevin) 18:30 (pp). Omaha takes advantage of a Keaton Pehrson tripping penalty to even the game. Guevin's pass from the left circle is touched by Lansdell and goes to Urdahl at the bottom of the right circle. UND goalie Hobie Hedquist moves over and squares up, but Urdahl picks the corner of the net on the far side.
Omaha 2, UND 1 — Matt Miller 7 (Zach Urdahl, Nolan Sullivan) 6:17. Omaha takes its first lead of the night on a play that starts with a Sullivan faceoff win. The puck gets below the goal line, Sullivan spots Urdahl and Miller open at the top of the crease and Miller fires it past Hedquist.
Omaha 3, UND 1 — Jimmy Glynn 9 (Griffin Ludtke, Jesse Lansdell) 17:06. Omaha turns offensive zone time into a goal when Glynn fires a shot from high in the zone through a maze of bodies and past Hedquist.
Omaha 3, UND 2 — Hunter Johannes 11 (Ben Strinden, Logan Britt) 19:35. UND makes it a one-goal game just before the end of the period. Britt launches a shot from the left circle with traffic in front. Johannes finds the rebound and scores in a building where he played for a state championship.
Omaha 4, UND 2 — Brock Bremer 7 (Jesse Lansdell, Nolan Krenzen) 1:18. Bremer skates into the zone on the left side and flips a weak backhand on net, but Hedquist fumbles it with his glove and it leaks five-hole. The official blows the whistle as the puck is about to cross the goal line. After a lengthy review officials uphold the call on the ice.
Omaha 4, UND 3 — Jake Livanavage 5 (Cameron Berg, Jackson Blake) 9:50 (pp). Blake draws a penalty for the second time in the game and the Fighting Hawks take advantage. Livanavage has the puck at the top of the zone and fires it through a Kunz screen.
Omaha 5, UND 3 — Zach Urdahl 12 (Griffin Ludtke, Matt Miller) 10:58. Omaha answers just 68 seconds later when Ludtke fires a shot from the top of the zone that Urdahl re-directs from the side of the crease for his second of the game.
Omaha 6, UND 3 — Zach Urdahl 13 (Nolan Sullivan, Griffin Ludtke) 15:16 (en). UND pulls the goaltender with just under five minutes to go and Urdahl quickly scores into the empty net to finish off a hat trick.
Forwards
18 Jayden Perron—14 Cameron Berg—17 Riese Gaber
29 Jackson Kunz—22 Owen McLaughlin—9 Jackson Blake
26 Dylan James—8 Jake Schmaltz—27 Louis Jamernik V
28 Hunter Johannes—21 Ben Strinden—13 Carson Albrecht
11 Griffin Ness
Defensemen
7 Garrett Pyke—25 Abram Wiebe
4 Jake Livanavage—20 Keaton Pehrson
6 Logan Britt—2 Bennett Zmolek
Goaltenders
30 Hobie Hedquist
32 Ludvig Persson
Not in lineup: F Dane Montgomery, D Nate Benoit, D Tanner Komzak, G Kaleb Johnson
Forwards
28 Jack Randl—19 Ty Mueller—71 Tanner Ludtke
6 Zach Urdahl—11 Nolan Sullivan—27 Matt Miller
14 Jesse Lansdell—22 Jimmy Glynn—26 Brock Bremer
8 Ray Fust—21 Tyler Rollwagen—13 Jacob Slipec
Defensemen
3 Kirby Proctor—23 Victor Mancini
2 Joaquim Lemay—12 Nolan Krenzen
7 Griffin Ludtke—10 Jacob Guevin
9 Dom Vidoli
Goaltenders
30 Simon Latkoczy
32 Seth Eisele
1 Will Craig
Not in lineup: F Charlie Lurie, F Michael Abgrall, D Noah Ellis
Referees — Sterling Egan and Brian Hankes
Linesmen — Jeff Schultz and Dana Penkivech
Supervisor — Mike Schmitt
Carson Albrecht is back in after missing last weekend's series with an illness. . . Griffin Ness is the extra skater. . . UND is attempting to become the second team in NCHC history to win both the regular season and playoffs in the same season. The only other one is 2021 UND. . . Omaha is playing in its first NCHC Frozen Faceoff in program history. The last trip to the conference semifinals for the Mavericks was 2001.
