OMAHA, Neb. – The No. 1/2 Omaha hockey team christened its new on-campus arena in front of a packed and rowdy crowd on Friday, beating Air Force, 4-2.

Freshman Steven Spinner scored two goals as the Mavericks improved to 5-0-0 to match the best start in program history.  Air Force dropped to 1-3-1.

The game marked the debut of Baxter Arena, the sparkling new on-campus home for the Mavericks.  The sellout crowd of 7,898 enjoyed a 40-minute pre-game ceremony that featured members of the original hockey committee and players from the first UNO team in 1997-98.

The honor of the first goal in Baxter Arena history went to Spinner.  He tipped in a shot by Joel Messner at 14:28 of the first period for his first collegiate goal.

The Mavericks doubled the lead on a power play early in the second period.  Justin Parizek forced a turnover deep in the Air Force zone.  Tyler Vesel picked up the loose puck and quickly fed it to Jake Randolph who slammed home his fourth goal of the year.

Austin Ortega continued his torrid pace in the early season.  He steered home a pass from Jake Guentzel while being hauled down by a Falcon defender at 18:27.  It was his NCAA-leading sixth goal of the season.

Air Force drew to within two when Jordan Himley's shot ricocheted off a UNO defender past goaltender Kirk Thompson at 5:31 of the third period.

UNO restored the three-goal lead when Spinner stole the puck at center ice, raced around the defender and tucked a shot under goaltender Shane Starrett at 8:56.

Air Force's Ben Kucera scored at 13:40 for the final tally.

Ortega's goal stood up as the game winner, giving him the deciding goal in four of the Mavericks' wins this year.  He now has 16 career game winners, seven from tying the NCAA record and best in the NCAA this year.

Thompson stopped 28 shots to improve to 3-0-0 this season.

The last time the Mavericks opened the season 5-0-0 was 2010-11.

The two teams close the weekend series on Saturday at 7:07 p.m.