DUBUQUE, Iowa – The University of Dubuque men's hockey team celebrated Senior Day in the season finale against No. 4 Aurora University. Despite two goals from senior Nikita Borodaenko, UD fell 5-4 in overtime.

Borodaenko opened the scoring with a power-play goal after taking passes from Zach Burfoot and Zach Cline. Three minutes later, UD would extend their lead when Wilder Jacober broke away for his third goal of the season. Borodaenko found the net again later in the period, stretching the lead to 3-0. Aurora would chip away at UD's lead, scoring two goals before the intermission to cut their deficit to one. Senior Brock Weimer scored the only goal of the second period, stretching the lead back to two. Aurora would score quickly in the third and score an extra-attacker goal with just under two minutes to play to force overtime, where they scored on a broken play to seal the 5-4 victory.

Borodaenko scored twice on three shots and won 15 of his 23 face-offs. Weimer and Jacober scored during the season finale, while Cline, Burfoot, and Max Erstad recorded assists. Brandon Rossetti led the Spartans with five shots on goal. In goal, Beau Altman made 36 saves on 41 attempts over 63 minutes of game time.

The loss will close the Spartans' third season as a program with a 6-17-2 record overall and a 3-13-2 record in NCHA play. The 2025-26 season was the Spartans' best yet, as they won more games than previous seasons and saw young players develop over the course of the season. The Spartans will now await NCHA and NCAA regular season honors, which will be announced in the coming weeks.