Box Score Box Score

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Ryan Walters scored his second goal of the night early in the third period, and the Omaha hockey team held on for a wild 6-5 win over St. Cloud State on Friday night at the National Hockey Center.

The Mavericks improved to 10-4-1 overall and 6-2-1 in the WCHA while the Huskies dropped to 8-7-0 overall and 6-5-0 in the league.  The two teams conclude their two-game series on Saturday night at 7:07 p.m.

Walters' goal put the Mavericks up 6-3 at the time, giving them their first three-goal lead of the night.  But St. Cloud State battled back, getting two goals from freshman David Morley to complete a hat trick and create some white knuckle moments for the Mavs.  John Faulkner made a big save on Ben Hanowski in the final minute as the Huskies pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker with 1:45 remaining.

St. Cloud State controlled play from the outset, but the Mavericks struck first.  Matt White grabbed a loose puck and whipped it to the front of the net where Brent Gwidt tipped it in for his fourth goal of the year.

The Huskies tied the game at 11:37 when Drew LeBlanc set up Kalle Kossila for a sharp wrist shot that beat Faulkner just under the crossbar.

With the two teams skating 4-on-4, UNO scored two quick goals to go up, 3-1.  First, Walters stayed hot, jamming a bouncing puck past goalie Ryan Faragher for his team-leading 21st point.  The goal extended Walters' point streak to eight games.

Then just 31 seconds later, Brian O'Rourke threw a pass up ice to White who raced in on a breakaway.  He beat Faragher with a low wrist shot for his sixth goal of the year.

But St. Cloud State went back on the powerplay just 22 seconds later and wasted no time scoring.  Again, Kossila found the net from the low slot to make it 3-2 Mavericks after one period.

UNO again stretched its lead to two at 8:21 of the second period when White set up Walters for a shot in the low slot.  Faragher made a great save on the shot, but Bryce Aneloski crashed the net and knocked the rebound in for his third goal of the year.

Just 17 seconds later, St. Cloud State again closed to within one when Morley knocked in the rebound of his shot that had hit the post.

But late in the period, the Mavericks forged ahead by a pair for a third time.  Working a perfect cycle off the end wall, Josh Archibald set up Dominic Zombo who tipped the puck past Faragher to give UNO a 5-3 lead at the break.

Faulkner made 29 saves to improve to 9-1-1 while Rasmus Reijola took the loss after coming in to start the third period.  He stopped five of six shots.

Walters finished with two goals and two assists while White added a goal and two assists to lead the UNO attack.

The win kept UNO unbeaten in series openers, improving its record to 7-0-1.  It was also UNO's second win at the National Hockey Center where it is 2-6-1 all-time.