Men's Ice Hockey 4/5/2026 12:22:00 AM Joel Norman

MARKONIDIS'S HAT TRICK HELPS LANCERS END SEASON VICTORIOUS

The Omaha Lancers concluded their 2025-26 season with an 8-5 win over the Lincoln Stars on Saturday night at the Ice Box.

Lefty Markonidis recorded a hat trick in his final game as a Lancer with a pair of tallies in an action-packed second period and then the eventual game-winner in the third.

Markonidis broke a 5-5 tie by following up his initial shot from the slot with a rebound far-post side at the 6:53 mark of the third against his former team. Omaha (19-38-3-2) wrapped up the regular season with eight wins over its final 12 games and earned at least one point in nine of the final 11 games. The two teams combined to score eight times in the second period and Lincoln (28-29-4-1) erased four different deficits.

Jack Stanius continued his recent heater with his third goal in the last four games and his fourth in the last six games with the game's only tally of the first period. He scored on a one-timer from the base of the right-wing circle off a pass from Tanner Morgan on the power play at the 16:16 mark to help Omaha strike first.

After just one goal in the first period, the floodgates broke in the second stanza. Lincoln erased three different deficits in the period, beginning 66 seconds in when Nate Pedersen evened it up from the left-wing side.

Kole Hyles cashed in just outside of the crease at the 6:19 mark to give Omaha its second lead of the night. The goal came in the middle of an extended offensive sequence with multiple near-misses but the Lancers sustained the zone time amidst a line change and scored. Hyles led Omaha with 23 goals this season and became the 91st Lancer to score 20-or-more goals in a single season.

The Stars overcame their second deficit at the 8:02 mark when Cole Braunshausen scored. It marked the first-of-two Lincoln goals in the period that came less than two minutes after an Omaha tally.

The Stars won a neutral zone faceoff a couple of minutes later but Markonidis stole the puck at center ice and sped the other way to score a breakaway goal and make it 3-2 at the 10:28 mark.

Lincoln again responded, this time at the 14:04 mark on a Cooper Williams tally. Drew Nelson turned the puck over previously that led to the first Markonidis goal but barely kept the puck on side this time and connected with Williams for the equalizer.

Markonidis wasted no time restoring the Lancer lead, striking 12 seconds later from the far wing off an Omaha center-ice faceoff win. Saturday marked Markonidis's first multi-goal game of the season and his third in his USHL career.

Brady Arneson doubled up the lead in his final junior-hockey game just over a minute later. Artem Prima set up Arneson for his 10th goal of the season on an odd-man rush at the 15:20 mark to make it 5-3, Lancers. Prima finished the season with 14 points (6+8) and picked up at least one point in 12 of his 17 games as a Lancer.

The Stars got their first power play at 16:34 mark of the second and only needed eight seconds into it to strike on the mad advantage as KJ Sauer cut the deficit to one goal.

Lincoln again tied the game up with a goal less than two minutes into a period. Alex Pelletier struck in the slot with his USHL-leading 48th goal of the season 1:13 into the third.

After Markonidis sent a smattering of hats flying on the road, Cam Caron and Charlie Vig added empty-net goals to seal the Omaha victory.

The Lancers will open up their 40th season in franchise history this September. Stay tuned this summer for a schedule announcement.

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