OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha hockey team earned its first series sweep of the season, beating Northern Michigan, 4-1, on Saturday night at Baxter Arena.

Sophomore Zach Jordan had a goal and an assist, and Fredrik Olofsson had two assists to give the Mavericks their first back-to-back wins this season.  UNO won the opener of the non-conference series, 4-3 on Friday.

The win improved the Mavericks to 6-5-1 overall while Northern Michigan fell to 7-7-0.

The Mavericks wasted little time taking the lead.  Just 34 seconds into the game, Olofsson sent a cross-crease pass to David Pope who hammered home his team-leading seventh goal of the year.

Just 1:47 later, a face-off in the Northern Michigan zone led to another goal for the Mavericks.  Luke Nogard crashed the net and converted the rebound of a shot by Jordan for his second goal of the weekend and third of the year.

The Mavericks scored early in the second period to stretch their lead.  Teemu Pulkkinen grabbed a loose puck at center ice.  He raced down the left wing and beat goalie Mathias Israelson over the right shoulder at 2:03.

Jordan's breakaway goal made it 4-0 later in the period.  He took a pass from Mason Morelli, slipped behind the defense and snapped a shot past Israelson for his fourth goal of the year and second of the weekend.

Northern Michigan finally got on the board in the last minute of middle period.  Defenseman Philip Beaulieu got free in the slot and banked in a shot off the right post to make it 4-1 after two.

The Mavericks outshot the Wildcats 10-7 in the third period and 30-26 for the game.

Evan Weninger stopped 25 shots to improve to 6-4-0 this season.  Israelson made 26 saves in the loss.

The Mavericks return to NCHC play next weekend when they host No. 2 St. Cloud State on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 1-2.

NOTES:  

• The Mavericks won for the first time in a series finale after going 0-4-1 in the first five two-game series.
• The one goal allowed was a season low for Omaha.
• Omaha improved to 5-2-1 in non-conference games, ensuring it of a winning record outside the NCHC for a fourth consecutive year.  The Mavericks have two non-conference games remaining.
• Pope and Morelli led the Mavericks with five shots each; Joel Messner, Lukas Buchta, Morelli and Olofsson led the team with a +2 plus/minus rating; Buchta had a game-high four blocked shots.
• The Mavericks killed all 11 Northern Michigan power plays for the weekend, improving to 85.2 percent for the season, third-best in the NCHC.
• Omaha also went without a power play goal in the series (0-for-13).

Three stars:  1. Zach Jordan (UNO); 2. Fredrik Olofsson (UNO); 3. Evan Weninger (UNO)