By Bridget (Weide) Brooks
Omaha Hockey closes out the first half of the 2025-26 season with a pair of non-conference road games at Augustana University, as the Mavericks head north to Sioux Falls, S.D. for a weekend series at Midco Arena.
Omaha enters the weekend 6-10-0 overall and 3-7-0 in NCHC play, while Augustana comes in at 9-5-3 overall and 6-4-2 in the CCHA. The Vikings are receiving votes nationally and have not lost a game at Midco Arena this season (6 wins, 3 ties).
The programs have met four times since Augustana launched Division I hockey in the 2023-24 season. Omaha swept the home-and-home series in November 2023 by scores of 5-2 and 2-1. Last season, the Vikings returned the favor with a sweep in Omaha, winning 2-1 and 4-0. The all-time series is tied 2-2.
The Mavericks are coming off being swept at No. 4 North Dakota last weekend at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Despite the losses, Omaha showed resilience throughout the series, including strong defensive stretches and timely scoring contributions from a pair of young players.
On Friday night in Grand Forks, sophomore forward Trevor Wong scored his first goal as a Maverick. On Saturday, freshman forward Cam Briere opened the scoring early in the second period, giving Omaha a 1-0 lead and recording his second career goal.
Freshman forward Luke Woodworth continues to lead the Mavericks offensively with 11 points, while sophomore forward Maxime Pellerin has tallied a team-high six goals for 10 points. Senior defenseman Griffin Ludtke leads the team with nine assists.
Between the pipes, Omaha will likely turn to freshman goaltender Dawson Cowan this weekend. Cowan entered Friday’s game against North Dakota just two minutes in, following an injury to senior goaltender Simon Latkoczy. He finished the night with 23 saves. Cowan followed that performance with a 28-save effort on Saturday. Head coach Mike Gabinet confirmed that Latkoczy will not be available for the Augustana series.
The Vikings
Augustana picked up five of six points last weekend against then-No. 14 Minnesota State, earning a 3-1 win on Friday before skating to a 4-4 tie on Saturday.
Freshman forward Jacob Jastrzebski leads the Vikings with 14 points (5G, 9A) and was named CCHA Rookie of the Week following his four-point weekend against Minnesota State. Leonid Bulgakov has scored a team-best seven goals.
Josh Kotai will likely get the start in the Vikings’ net. Kotai is the program’s all-time leader in multiple goaltending categories, including career saves, save percentage, shutouts, minutes played, and wins.
Assistant coach Taylor Nelson will be behind the bench this weekend, as head coach Garrett Raboin is with Team USA for the upcoming 2026 World Junior Championships.
From the Locker Room
Coach Gabinet acknowledged the challenge Augustana presents, particularly on home ice.
“You got to give them credit. They’re playing well,” Gabinet said. “You got to be coming there ready to play… but also be focused on us and making sure we’re improving in the areas we can improve in.”
He also emphasized that Omaha’s focus remains internal as the team works through a difficult stretch.
“There’s a lot of personal responsibility in that locker room,” Gabinet said. “They’re doing a lot of good things when you watch our games. We’re right there and just coming up short.”
Briere echoed that mindset, stressing that the Mavericks’ biggest opponent is often themselves.
“Everybody always talks about it being ‘us versus everybody,’ but something good that was said was it’s ‘us versus us,’” Briere said. “The only time we ever get put in a bad position is when we put ourselves in a bad position.”
Briere also pointed to Augustana’s speed and offensive activation from the back end as a key focus area.
“They have really offensive, fast D (defense). They like to join the rush,” he said. “It’s going to be a good challenge for us to make sure we’re tracking back hard and taking care of defense first.”
Interesting Tidbits
Omaha has played 14 ranked opponents this season, collecting five wins over ranked teams, including a 2-0 road shutout of then-No. 3 Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 15.
Cowan has a 2.64 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage this season.
Augustana is allowing just 2.1 goals per game and has converted at a .234 clip on the power play.
The Vikings are 26-5-2 all-time at Midco Arena since opening the facility.
On this episode of the Mavpuckcast, Jon and Jason talk about the Omaha Maverick Hockey team’s recent road trip to North Dakota (includes their picks for “Player of the Week”). Jason presents his NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Top 20 for the week. They wrap up the episode with their preview and predictions for Omaha’s upcoming hockey series against the Augustana Vikings at Midco Arena in Sioux Falls.
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