Former University of North Dakota goaltender Matej Tomek has been named to the 2022 Slovakia Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team on Tuesday morning, as announced by the nation. 

Tomek is the 31st UND product to compete at the Winter Olympics in men’s ice hockey, joining current North Dakota defenseman Jake Sanderson in this year’s Games. The Bratislava, Slovakia, native becomes only the third European player to represent UND at the Games, with Bob DePiero (Italy, 1984) and Ludvig Hoff (Norway, 2018) as the others. 

This marks the ninth time, and third straight, that North Dakota has at least two representatives in men’s ice hockey at the Winter Olympics. Overall, UND has had representatives at 16 of the last 19 Winter Olympics in men’s ice hockey, with Christian (1980, USA), Ed Belfour (2002, Canada) and Jonathan Toews (2010/2014, Canada) all winning gold. 

Tomek played two seasons at North Dakota, helping capture the program’s eighth NCAA championship in 2015-16. He made two appearances the following season, including a start against Colorado College, before ending his collegiate career at Omaha. 

No stranger to international play, Tomek has played for Slovakia at the U-17, U-18 and U-20 World Championships over his career.