Omaha, NE | The final weekend of preseason action gets underway at the Junior Lancers home venue the Ralston Arena on October 25 and 26.  The junior varsity and varsity squads face the Des Moines Oak Leafs (Saturday) and the Sioux City Metros (Sunday). Adults $5, Students and Children over 5 - $1, under 5 Free.

Your Omaha Junior Lancers have faced the Oak Leafs once already this season during their 2014 Showcase in Des Moines, the JV squad tied the Oaks 0-0 and out shot them at a pace of 3-1, they look to avenge this tie with a win this weekend.  The varsity team came out on the better end winning 3-0 on the strength of goals from Steve Degnan, Cole Childers, and Dalton Theisen – assists in that game went to Walters and Gruhn.

Assistant coach Nick Harrahill was reached for comment about this weekend’s game with Des Moines, “I expect the boys to want to set the tempo for the regular season. Des Moines is the defending champions and we should be aiming for them all season.”

With a great start in Des Moines and another this weekend with the regular season meeting in Omaha the varsity team will have their hands full in a tilt on Saturday.

Senior Cole Childers had this to say about this weekend’s games, “I expect both JV and Varsity to be prepared to battle and play a physical game. I know we have the potential to go 4-0 as a program this weekend based on our practice tempo. I'm excited to finish up the pre-season on a high note and get the regular season started.”

Sunday morning will bring a new opponent to the Ralston Arena in the form of Sioux City Metros, this will be their fifth preseason game and look to push the pace in the Western division against Omaha and Kansas City for the top Western seed for the playoffs.  Both teams on paper appear to match up age wise with youth leading the way.  Coach Harrahill mentioned that “Sioux city is a division rival that we will see a lot, so we need to be able to leave a mark on them. Working hard and playing our style of hockey will get us through the weekend.”

Coach Andy Blaszak is in his second season with the Junior Lancers varsity team after going 31-10-2 (18-8-2 in MWHSL) last season. In a brief statement he said, “We’re building our program, the biggest thing we were able to learn was what it takes to compete and grind out the wins.”

Coach Matt Sempeck is also in his second season as head coach of the Junior Varsity team and went a solid 19-4-5 in regular season play after a rough preseason patch. Coach Sempeck stated, “We took our lumps last season in the preseason and it resulted in a closer knit group of guys that pulled together to make the best of the situation,” last years team finished second regular season and second in the championship game to Kansas City Jets, “These guys are our rivals and if we focus on them it will put us in the top of the league year in and year out.” 

This years team has had some success and struggles in the preseason, but both coaches expect them to be ready when they hit the ice November 1 and 2nd against the Dubuque Devils for the regular season.

“One weekend at a time – one game at a time will get us where we need to be – our goals are to win our division at both levels and then playoffs,” preached coach Andy Oddo, “We will get there.”

The 2014-2015 regular season is almost here; don’t miss any of the action and get your season passes today!

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About the Omaha Junior Lancers High School Hockey

www.omahajuniorlancers.com

Our primary mission is to provide players with a quality and successful experience playing for the Omaha Junior Lancers program. The goal for our staff and players is to promote exciting community based enjoyment for all ages. By focusing on our primary goal, our Hockey Club and players will provide a positive example to the local youth as role models, through community involvement with local business and minor hockey, while practicing professional conduct at all times. The Junior Lancers play in the Midwest High School Hockey League and play against teams from Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.