OMAHA, Neb. – The No. 19/15 Omaha hockey team scored four goals in the third period to pull away for a 6-2 win over No. 12/11 Western Michigan on Friday night at Baxter Arena.

Six different players scored for the Mavericks, and Jake Randolph had three assists to give Omaha its first win in three tries against the Broncos this season.  UNO is now 13-11-1 overall and 6-9-0-0/0 in the NCHC, tying them with Colorado College for sixth.  The Broncos dropped to 13-11-1 overall and 8-7-0-0/0 in the conference, putting them in a tie with Minnesota Duluth for third.

The Mavericks led 2-0 after the second period, but Western Michigan battled back to tie the game on goals by Neal Goff and Austin Rueschhoff in the first 9:30 of the third.

Omaha retook the lead at 13:42 on a power play.  Randolph set up Joel Messner for a slap shot that hit the post, bounced off the back of goalie Austin Cain and trickled across the goal line.

The Mavericks got back-to-back empty net goals to extend their lead.  Zach Jordan cleared a rebound from his own zone that went into the net from about 160 feet at 18:57.

Cole Pickup then tallied his first collegiate goal when Cain was again pulled.  His first shot from the slot was blocked, but he punched the puck through on the second try to make it 5-2 with 35 seconds remaining.

The Mavericks got a power play as a result of the goal, and Luke Nogard tipped in a shot by Lukas Buchta just eight seconds after Pickup's goal to close the scoring.

Evan Weninger stopped 32 shots including 27 over the first two periods as the Mavericks were outshot 34-29 for the game.  Cain made 23 saves.

The Mavericks jumped ahead late in the first period.  Pickup muscled his way through a check down the right wing and threw the puck to the front of the Western Michigan net.  It ricocheted off two Broncos before finding Teemu Pulkkinen who lifted home his fourth goal of the year.

In the second period, the Mavericks doubled their lead on a power play.  Tyler Vesel threw a pass to Randolph at the left face-off circle.  He passed it back across to David Pope for a backdoor tap-in at 18:28.

The Mavericks finished 3-for-7 on the power play while Western Michigan went 1-for-5.

The two teams complete the weekend and the four-game season series on Saturday at 7:07 p.m.

GAME NOTES:

• Pulkkinen's goal ended a scoreless stretch of 158:25 for the Mavericks.  They hadn't scored since the second period of a 4-3 win over Miami on Jan. 13.
• Pope, Messner and Nogard hit new career highs for goals in a season.  Pope's goal was his 14th of the season, Messner got his fifth and Nogard notched his eighth.
• The Mavericks improved to 9-3-1 at home this season.  They're now 4-3-0 at home in conference games.
• Omaha also improved to 23-17-6 against Western Michigan including a mark of 13-6-2 at home and 4-1-0 at Baxter Arena.

Three Stars:  1. Joel Messner (UNO); 2. David Pope (UNO); 3. Tyler Vesel (UNO)