ARMY FALLS TO NEBRASKA-OMAHA, 3-2, IN SEASON OPENER

Alex Nikiforuk’s hat trick was all that stood between Army and a major upset in college hockey as host Nebraska-Omaha stole a 3-2 decision from the Black Knights in front of 4,772 fans at the Qwest Center in the first round of the Mutual of Omaha Stampede Friday night.

New Hampshire topped Ferris State, 4-2, in the other first-round matchup. The Wildcats advance to the championship game to face defending champion UNO at 8 p.m. Saturday night. Army will battle Ferris State in the consolation tilt at 5 p.m.

Nikiforuk finished off his trick 56 seconds into the final period and his teammates made it stand. Aaron Anderson made one final bid for the tie with 10 seconds left, but his wrister from the slot slid just wide of the goal.

Army goalie Brad Roberts made 37 saves, keeping the Black Knights (0-1) in the contest, and earning the game’s third star. His heroics, and the play in the defensive zone, were a big reason the contest stood at two apiece after 40 minutes of play.

“We spend a lot of time in practice on our play in the defensive zone. Our guys blocked a lot of shots, tonight, but we expect to block shots,” Army head coach Brian Riley said.

“We don’t take any satisfaction in a moral victory. We are here to win hockey games. But, certainly, the effort was there tonight. Brad Roberts put us in a position to win this hockey game.”

Bryce Hollweg drew first blood for the Black Knights on the power play, beating UNO goalie Eric Aarnio with a blast from the left faceoff circle at 7:32 of the first period. Hollweg dug the puck out of the corner and wandered up the half-board. When no Maverick defender challenged him, the sophomore forward took two strides toward the net and beat Aarnio cleanly through the five-hole. Chris Migliaro and Casey Bickley registered assists on the play.

The Mavericks (1-0) tied things up on the power play at 15:19 to close out the scoring in the opening frame. Nikiforuk beat Army goalie Brad Roberts with a slapshot.

The hosts then captured their first lead of the night on Nikiforuk’s second of the night at 10:59 of the second period, while the teams skated four aside. The junior center took a feed from Scott Parse, who was in the corner, and walked out into the slot area all alone.

Brady Dolim knotted up the game two minutes later when he roofed a back-hander over the shoulder of Aarnio. Aaron Anderson’s initial back-hand attempt was saved by Aarnio, but Dolim followed Anderson in on the rush and beat the sophomore netminder while standing just off the right post. Luke Flicek also picked up an assist on the play. That is how the second period ended.

In a tightly called game, both sides were forced to adjust to the new college hockey rules set into place over the summer. The Mavs converted on 1 of 5 power play opportunities in the first frame alone, while the Black Knights were successful on 1 of 4 chances. Army finished 1 for 6 overall and UNO 2 for 8. A total of 19 penalties were whistled in the game, resulting in 71 combined penalty minutes, including three game misconduct fouls due to the new hitting-from-behind interpretation in the NCAA rule book.

Parse finished with three assists for Nebraska-Omaha in support of Nikiforuk’s hat trick. Aarnio stopped 13 shots in goal.