SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana hockey kicks off its 2024-25 season with an exhibition against preseason No. 5/6 North Dakota on Saturday at 6:07 p.m. in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 

Augustana and North Dakota announced Wednesday morning that both programs have agreed to a a home-and-home series, with the Vikings set to host North Dakota of the NCHC in Midco Arena during the 2027-28 season with Augustana set to play in Ralph Engelstad Arena in the 2028-29 season. The announcement was made ahead of the Vikings exhibition with North Dakota.

Complete action can be followed on GoAugie.com/Live and the GoAugie app, presented by The Original Pancake House. The app can be downloaded in the App Store or Google Play.

The Fighting Hawks
UND comes into the 2024-25 season as preseason ranked No. 5. The Fighting Hawks went 26-12-2 in the 2023-24 season and fell to the University of Michigan in the NCAA Tournament. 

North Dakota saw four players get drafted in the 2024 NHL Draft with three coming in as freshmen. Two Fighting Hawks were taken in the first round with Sacha Boisvert taken 18th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks and EJ Emery selected 30th by the New York Rangers. Two more UND players were taken on day two of the draft with Will Zellers in the third round, who who will likely come to North Dakota for the 2025-26 season, and freshman Mac Swanson who was selected in the seventh round. 

North Dakota saw 23 products of its hockey program take part in NHL Development Camps, Of the group, 15 will play on the 2024-25 roster.

The Vikings
Augustana announced its 2024-25 leadership group on Sept. 17 in front of its founding partners in Midco Arena. Senior forward Luke Mobley was named the second captain in program history and will be joined by assistants Evan McIntyre, Brady Ziemer and Payton Matsui. In Augustana's inaugural season, Mobley spent the 2023-24 season as an assistant captain. 

In the first preseason poll in Augustana hockey history, the Vikings were picked to finish sixth in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's (CCHA) preseason polls, as voted on by the league's coaches. AU was also picked to finish seventh in the media poll. The Augustana hockey program became full members for the 2024-25 season following a vote from the CCHA Board of Directors in mid-July. This change brought the CCHA to nine teams, a year early as the Vikings were slated to join as full members in the 2025-26 season. 

The Vikings welcomed nine newcomers to the 2024-25 roster with seven freshmen and two transfers. Augustana will roster 27 Vikings with 15 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies. 

Hayden Hennen had an exciting offseason as the first Viking to take part in an NHL Development Camp. Hennen spent a week over the Summer with the Calgary Flames before returning to campus. 

After a vote from the CCHA Board of Directors during the offseason, Augustana was granted full membership into the CCHA a year early. The Vikings will now be able to compete for the MacNaughton Cup and are eligible to participate in the CCHA Mason Cup Playoffs. The Vikings will also become eligible for weekly, monthly and year-end honors going forward. With the addition of Augustana, the CCHA will keep its eight-team playoff format and positions will be set based on points per game. Augustana finished last season with 1.63 points per game and would have finished tied for third place in the CCHA.

CCHA TV
Midco Sports and the CCHA announced CCHA TV exclusively on Midco Sports Plus in late August. The CCHA's regular season and the Mason Cup quarterfinals, semifinals and championship will be streamed exclusively on Midco Sports Plus.