UNLV ice hockey club gets playoff berth

The news wasn’t good for UNLV’s ice hockey club Tuesday. But it wasn’t that bad, either.

The American Collegiate Hockey Association announced its playoff schedule, and the Rebels, having their best season in their 11-year history at 28-7, are in the field. But UNLV, ranked No. 2 in the West as it plays its final season in Division II, was hoping to receive one of two automatic bids to the nationals.

The automatic bids for the event, scheduled for March 15 to 19 in Columbus, Ohio, went to Williston (North Dakota) State and Northern Arizona. Third-seeded UNLV has a first-round bye in the West Regionals in Greeley, Colorado, and will play the lowest remaining seed Feb. 24. If the Rebels win, they would play the next remaining lowest seed Feb. 25, with the winner advancing to Columbus.

“I’m not upset,” said Zee Khan, the team’s general manager. “We didn’t come back from the (winter) break like we needed to.”

The Rebels lost two head-to-head meetings at Northern Arizona, which jumped over UNLV to grab the second automatic berth.

“What I’m happy about is we put the NAU losses behind us, and we’re back to playing the way we can,” UNLV coach Anthony Vignieri-Greener said. “We’ve won three in a row, and we’ve got some momentum going into the playoffs.”

UNLV ended its regular season with victories over Cal State Northridge on Friday and Saturday at Sobe Ice Arena in the Fiesta Rancho.

“The best thing was I saw them having fun again,” Vignieri-Greener said. “Everyone was smiling and enjoying the game again. We were missing that for a while, and now we’re getting it back at just the right time.”

With the Rebels moving up to Division I club hockey next year, the goal has been to reach nationals for the first time.

“It would be the perfect transition as we go forward,” Khan said. “But we need to take care of business in Colorado first.”

Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.