OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha hockey team got goals from five different players to beat No. 19 Union, 5-1, on Friday night at Baxter Arena.

The win, in the Mavericks' first game out of the Christmas break, helped them improve to 8-8-1 overall.  The Dutchmen out of ECAC Hockey, fell to 10-9-1.

UNO opened the scoring early in the first period.  Fredrik Olofsson tipped in a point shot by Lukas Buchta for his third goal of the year at 3:31.

Defenseman Ryan Jones picked up his first goal of the year to make it 2-0.  He charged down the slot and knocked in a pass from David Pope at 6:44.

The Mavericks stretched their lead to 3-0 later in the period.  Martin Sundberg beat a Union defender to a loose puck and threw it back to Steven Spinner who slammed home his seventh of the year.

UNO's power play clicked early in the second period.  Joel Messner walked along the blue line and fired a shot past Hanson who was screened on the play.  It was his third goal of the season, a new career high.

Union finally got on the board less than five minutes later.  Greg Campbell's shot from the point slipped through Evan Weninger's pads, and Cole Maier poked home the loose puck at 8:20.

But the Mavericks restored the four-goal lead three and a half minutes later.  Keck and Zach Jordan broke in on a 2-on-1.  Keck set up Jordan for a shot in close that was stopped by backup goalie Jake Kupsky.  But Keck grabbed the rebound and fired home his fifth goal of the year at 11:51.

Union came into the series ranked sixth in the NCAA with 25 third-period goals, but the Mavericks clamped down on defense, matching a season low for fewest goals allowed.

Weninger made 18 saves to improve to 7-6-0 this season.  Hanson took the loss with nine saves on 13 shots.  Kupsky stopped 14 of 15 in relief.

The series concludes on Saturday at 7:07 p.m.

GAME NOTES:

• The Mavericks set a season low by allowing Union just 19 shots on goal.
• Pope and Randolph finished the night with two assists.  Keck and Olofsson had a goal and an assist.
• The game was the first meeting of the two schools since Oct. 18, 2008 in the championship game of the Mutual of Omaha Stampede.  The Mavericks won that night in overtime, 2-1.
• UNO improved to 4-2-0 all-time against Union and 3-1-0 vs. Union at home.
• The Mavericks also improved to 6-2-1 in non-conference games this season and 4-0-1 in non-conference home games.

Three stars:
1.    Tristan Keck (UNO); 2. Ryan Jones (UNO); 3. Lukas Buchta (UNO)