Road Trip to Omaha Up Next for (RV) St. Cloud State Men's Hockey

Friday, November 6

Baxter Arena | Omaha, Neb.

7:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Omaha

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Photo by: Bill Prout

11/5/2026 3:15:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Game Notes

Huskies to face Mavericks at Baxter Arena on Friday and Saturday

THE MATCHUP

St. Cloud State Men's Hockey heads back on the road for the first time in the conference portion of its schedule when the Huskies head to Omaha for a weekend series at Baxter Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT for both nights of the Friday/Saturday series with Mike Valliancourt and Terry Leahy on the call on NCHC.tv. Over the airwaves, voice of the Huskies Jim Erickson and SCSU Hall of Famer Dave Reichel will have the call on KNSI (1450 AM / 99.3 FM).
The Huskies are coming off a series split with Arizona State to open the NCHC slate last weekend, falling the Sun Devils 3-2 on Friday before coming back and winning its third consecutive Saturday game, 2-1. Omaha opened the NCHC schedule with a trip to then-No. 3 Denver, dropping both games 2-1 and 4-1 to the Pioneers.

EARLY SEASON OUTLOOK

Both teams are still looking to crack the top-20 for the first time in 2026-27, with the Huskies receiving votes in the USCHO poll while Omaha has received votes in both polls this season, but not this week. Through the five weeks of games, SCSU is currently ranked No. 28 in the NPI while Omaha checks in at No. 35.
The Huskies and Mavericks will both be looking to exceed its preseason expectations, as the Huskies were selected eighth and the Mavericks 10th in the NCHC Preseason Media Poll.

SERIES HISTORY

The Huskies and Mavericks will take the ice for the 57^th and 58^th times this weekend, with the Huskies holding a 31-21-4 advantage in the all-time series between the two programs. However, Omaha holds the advantage in the last 10 meetings with a 5-3-2 mark since Dec. 2023. Last season, the two teams split a weekend series in Omaha, with the Mavericks taking the Friday night game 6-2 before the Huskies bounced back to win 2-1 on Saturday night at Baxter Arena.
Sophomore goaltender Yan Shostak took the net in the second game of the series and provided 20 saves to buoy the Huskies to the series split.

THE CAPTAIN PRODUCES

With SCSU losing its top three goal scorers and eight skaters who scored 10 or more points a season ago, someone was going to need to step up and produce for the Huskies. Enter junior captain Gavyn Thoreson, who has scored a point in five of seven games and multi-point performances in two of SCSU's three wins, scoring three points (1g/2a) in a 5-3 win over No. 12/16 Michigan Tech (Oct. 10) and two points (2a) in a 5-3 road win over No. 16/15 Boston College (Oct. 17).
Among NCHC leaders in the early going, Thoreson ranks in the top-20 in both goals (20th - three) and points (14th - eight). Thoreson is continuing his ascension in point production as his career goes along, improving from 0.28 points per game as a freshman in 2024-25 (6-4--10) to 0.56 ppg last season (11-9--20) and now 1.14 ppg (3-5--8) in seven games this season.

THE SHOSTOPPER

Sophomore goaltender Yan Shostak has got the call between the pipes for the last three games, and has responded with a 2-1-0 mark, 2.36 goals-against-average and .943 save percentage while making 38.67 saves per game in that stretch. In each of the victories, Shostak has produced 40+ saves, making 43 saves in a 5-3 win over then-No. 16/15 Boston College on Oct. 17 and 42 saves in a 2-1 win over Arizona State on Oct. 31. Of the seven goals allowed in the past three games, only four have come in even strength situations

NOTES FROM LAST SERIES

SCSU earned its third consecutive series split last weekend against Arizona State. In each series over the past three weekends, SCSU has fallen in the first game before bouncing back to win the series finale. On Friday, the Huskies took a 2-1 lead in the first period on goals from junior forward Gavyn Thoreson and sophomore forward Noah Urness before Arizona State tied the game late in the first and scored in the third to take the opener, 3-2. On Saturday, SCSU scored two goals in the first 4:31 of the game and held on for a 2-1 win. Freshman forward Hayden Paupanekis scored 14 seconds into the game and junior forward William Ahlrik scored at 4:31 to while sophomore goaltender Yan Shostak stopped 42 of 43 shots on goal in the win.
3-2 loss to Arizona State (10-30-26)
- SCSU moved to 5-3 all-time against Arizona State and 2-3 against the Sun Devils in St. Cloud.
- The Huskies led the game in saves (31-28) and blocked shots (15-11), while ASU led in shots (34-30) and faceoff wins (32-28).
- SCSU went 0-for-3 on the power play and 1-for-3 on the penalty kill. This season, the Huskies are 4-for-23 (17.4%) on the PP and 18-for-23 (78.2%) on the PK.
- Sophomore forward Noah Urness produced his third career multi-point game, two of which have come against ASU. He scored his first goal of the season, and he now has five points.
- Sophomore forward Nolan Roed notched the first multi-assist game of his career and his sixth multi-point game. He now has five assists this year which is tied for the team lead and 25 career points. Roed won 12 faceoffs in the game and he has 10+ faceoff wins in all six games this season.
- Sophomore forward Gavyn Thoreson's goal was his third of the season and the 20th of his career. He leads the team in points so far this season with eight.
- Sophomore goaltender Yan Shostak's 31 saves were tied for the second most he has made in a game this season.
- Junior forward Thor Byfuglien skated to a +2 mark which tied his career best.
- Freshman forward Hayden Paupanekis went 10-2 on the dot, tallying his first career game with 10+ faceoff wins.
- Freshman defender Nolan Stevenson blocked a game-high four shots. He now has 14 blocks on the season which is five more than the next Husky.
2-1 win vs. Arizona State (10-31-26)
- SCSU moved to 6-3 all-time against Arizona State and 3-3 against the Sun Devils in St. Cloud.
- The Huskies led the game in saves (42-25) and faceoff wins (41-36), while ASU led in shots on goal (43-27) and blocked shots (12-9).
- SCSU went 0-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill. This season, the Huskies are 4-for-25 (16.0%) on the PP and 20-for-25 (80.0%) on the PK.
- Sophomore goaltender Yan Shostak recorded his second 40+ save performance of the season, all coming in the last three games. He now has four 40+ save games in his career.
- Freshman forward Hayden Paupanekis scored his second goal in his first six games in a Huskies sweater. He won double-digit faceoffs for the second straight game and skated to a +1 mark for the first time in his young career.
- Junior forward William Ahlrik netted his second goal in his seventh game with SCSU. He won 10+ draws for the fifth time this season and owns a 54.4% faceoff percentage on the year.
- Freshman defenseman Garrett Frazer's assist was his first career point in just his second-ever game.
- Senior forward Jake Southgate's assist was his 55th career point.
- Sophomore forward Nolan Roed won 11 draws, his seventh straight game with double-digit faceoff wins to start the season.

IN GOOD COMPANY

The first two wins of the Nick Oliver era have come against ranked opponents, with the Huskies beating No. 12/16 Michigan Tech on Oct. 10 and No. 16/15 Boston College on Oct. 17, both by way of 5-3 score. Oliver joins Bob Motzko as the only two SCSU coaches in the Division-I to earn their first two wins against ranked opponents. In 2005-06, Motzko's Huskies beat No. 12 Northern Michigan (3-2 OT) on Oct. 15, 2005, and No. 7 Minnesota (3-2) on Oct. 28, 2005.
In its last two hires, SCSU has had tremendous luck in its first season under new bench bosses. Motzko led the Huskies to a 22-16-4 mark and a WCHA Final Five Championship Game appearance in 2005-06, while Brett Larson's Huskies recorded a program record 30 wins, NCHC Penrose Championship and No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2018-19.
SCSU Head Coaches in Year 1:
- Coach (Year) vs. Ranked Overall (Conf.)
- Craig Dahl (1987-88) NA 11-25-1
- Bob Motzko (2005-06) 11-11-2 22-16-4 (13-13-2)
- Brett Larson (2018-19) 9-5-0 30-6-3 (19-2-3)
- Nick Oliver (2026-27) 2-2-0 3-4-0 (1-1-0)

TOP LINE RETURNS

Although listed as the second or third line for a large majority of the second half of last season, the trio of junior captain Gavyn Thoreson, sophomore forward Nolan Roed and sophomore forward Noah Urness were arguably SCSU's best line for the final stretch of the season. The trio are SCSU's top-three returning scorers from a season ago, with each scoring 18+ points while accounting for 73.9 percent (54-of-73) of SCSU's production from its seven returning skaters.
Through seven games this season, the trio has picked up right where they left off as the teams three-leading scorers. Thoreson is the top-scoring skater with eight points (3g/5a), while Roed has produced seven points (2g/5a) and Urness with five points (1g/4a). The top line has combined for 20 of 49 points (40.8 percent) of SCSU's scoring throughout the season, and have scored the goal or recorded an assist on 10 of 18 goals (55.6 percent).
Thoreson's eight points (3g/5a) rank in the top-20 among NCHC skaters.
The group was able to grow together as the 2025-26 season went along, playing together for 14 of 36 games last season, including the last eight, and provided 40.7 percent of their production in the final 10 games of the season.
Thoreson led the way with 20 points (11-9--20) and made the jump from his freshman campaign where he only scored 10 points. Urness notched seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points while leading the team with four game-winning goals. Roed ranked fourth on the team in assists with 13 and added five goals for 18 points in his freshman campaign.
The trio picked up right where they left off a season ago, as Roed and Thoreson scored on the Huskies' first goal of the season, with Roed netting a power play goal in SCSU's season-opener at Bemidji State (Oct. 3) with Thoreson recording the secondary assist.

SOLID PK UNIT

The penalty kill has been a strong point in the early going for the Huskies, posting a 80.0 percent (20-of-25) mark on the penalty kill.
The PK unit has stopped all opponent's power play chances in four of seven games and killed off seven consecutive penalties with perfect 5-for-5 and 2-for-2 performances in the Michigan Tech series.
In the goals surrendered on the PK, the only two that have come in true 5-on-4 fashion came in the Arizona state series, with the Huskies allowing a overtime-winning goal against Bemidji State (Oct. 3) in 4-on-3 play, a two-man disadvantage against Boston College (Oct. 16) and an extra-attacker, two-man disadvantage, 6-on-3 goal against Boston College (Oct. 17).
Often considered a team's best penalty killers, SCSU's goaltenders, sophomore Yan Shostak and junior Patriks Berzins have posted a 87.9 save percentage on kills this season with Shostak stopping 29-of-33 shots in three starts while Berzins has stopped 10-of-11 shots in two starts.