OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha hockey team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over Northern Michigan on Friday at Baxter Arena.

Playing their first home game in nearly five weeks, the Mavericks built a two-goal lead and then hung on through a late penalty kill to improve to 5-5-1 overall.  Northern Michigan, out of the WCHA, dipped to 7-6-0.

The Mavericks wasted little time taking the lead in the game.  Just 3:33 in, Ryan Galt forced a turnover at center ice.  He fed Tristan Keck who sped down the left wing, cut to the net and slid a backhander past goalie Mathias Israelson for his fourth goal of the year.

Northern Michigan tied the game a little more than five minutes later.  With the two teams skating 4-on-4, defenseman Phil Beaulieu skated down the right wing and fired a low shot past Evan Weninger at 8:53.

The Wildcats got their first lead of the game just 1:17 into the second period.  Joseph Nardi finished off an odd-man rush with a hard wrist shot that went in off the glove of Weninger to make it 2-1.

The Mavericks would get the next three starting with a fortunate bounce.  Tyler Vesel grabbed a loose puck in the slot and fired a wild backhander that deflected off the slick of a Northern Michigan player past Israelson at 7:30.

Riley Alferd set up the go-ahead goal, outworking a Wildcat player behind the net and feeding Zach Jordan who snapped in his third goal of the year at 12:22.

The Mavericks stretched their lead late in the period.  Riley Alferd's stuff chance was stopped, but Stephen Spinner fed Joel Messner for a slap shot.  It was tipped wide, but Luke Nogard pounced on the rebound and banged home his second of the year at 18:47.

Northern Michigan narrowed the lead to one at 15:51 of the third when Zach Diamantoni converted off a net-mouth scramble for his first goal of the season.

The Wildcats had three power plays in the third period, the last coming with just 2:05 remaining in the regulation.  The Mavericks kept Northern Michigan without a good scoring chance, even in the late going when NMU pulled Israelson to create a 6-on-4 advantage.

Weninger improved to 5-4-0 with 27 saves while Israelson made 16 saves to fall to 1-2-0.  Northern Michigan outshot the Mavericks 30-20 including a 14-2 advantage in the third period.

The two teams finish their series on Saturday at 7:07 p.m.

NOTES:  

• After registering one goal in his three previous seasons, senior Luke Nogard has now scored two in the first 11 games.
• Senior defenseman Joel Messner finished with a game-high +3 plus/minus rating.
• The 20 shots for UNO marked a season low.
• UNO improved to 5-1-0 in series openers this season.  They are now 2-0-1 at home.
• The Mavericks improved to 4-2-1 in non-conference games this season.
• In addition to ending their losing streak, the Mavericks snapped a string of three straight games with two goals or fewer.

Three Stars:  1. Luke Nogard (UNO); 2. Tristan Keck (UNO); 3. Zach Diamantoni (NMU)