UNLV hockey pushing for national championship

While UNLV football is in its offseason and basketball at different stages after the season, hockey has given the university legitimate championship aspirations.

On Tuesday, the UNLV Skatin’ Rebels compete in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) championship against Adrian College.

“We all wanted to play Adrian. We wanted that kind of grudge match,” UNLV head coach Anthony Vignieri-Greener said. “There was times I thought we outplayed them a lot of the game. We just ran into a hell of a goalie over there. Minot just ran into the same thing.”

Vignieri-Greener is talking about the way last season ended for the Rebels, when they were shut out 3-0 by Adrian in the championship. Adrian is in a similar groove heading into this matchup, coming off of a 4-0 shutout victory over top-seeded Minot State. Needless to say, the Rebels’ quest for revenge is far from easy.

Meanwhile, UNLV’s tournament experience has resulted in nailbiters. In their semifinal matchup against Liberty University, the Rebels were down by two until they scored five unanswered goals in the third period, including the tying and game-winning goals in the span of six seconds. The prior game against Maryville followed a similar script, with the Rebels down by two until scoring two goals in the final three minutes of the game before forward Dylan Jensen completed the comeback in overtime.