OMAHA, Neb. – The No. 19/15 Omaha hockey team finished off its third straight home sweep, beating No. 12/11 Western Michigan 7-3 on Saturday night at Baxter Arena.

David Pope and Tyler Vesel each had two goals and an assist to lead the Mavericks who are now 6-0-0 at home since the Christmas break and 10-3-1 at home this season.

With the win, the Mavericks improved to 14-11-1 overall and 7-9-0-0/0 in the NCHC, putting them in sole possession of sixth place.  Western Michigan fell to 13-12-1 overall and 8-8-0-0/0, good for a tie with Minnesota Duluth and North Dakota for third.

The Broncos opened the scoring when Dawson DiPietro scored on a power play at 4:29 of the first period.

The Mavericks countered on their own power play a little more than three minutes later.  Pope hammered home a cross-ice pass from Jake Randolph for his NCAA-leading 10th power play goal of the season.

Omaha took its first lead of the game when Fredrik Olofsson took a feed from Tristan Keck on an odd-man rush and fired in a shot off the post for his sixth goal of the year at 16:33.

In the second, Pope picked up his second when he zipped a shot between goalie Ben Blacker and the post from a sharp angle at 6:26.  It was his team-leading 16th goal of the year, a new career high.

Just 21 seconds later, the lead ballooned to 4-1 when Jalen Schulz fired purposely wide and then watched as the puck bounced off Blacker into the net for his second of the season.

The Broncos responded less than two minutes later when Cam Orchard beat Evan Weninger with a sharp wrist shot at 8:41.

Vesel restored the three-goal lead at 15:04 of the period.  He broke free up the right wing and beat back-up goalie Trevor Gorsuch with a wrist shot for his 10th goal of the year and UNO's first shorthanded tally of the season.

In the third, Vesel notched his second of the night when he slipped across the low slot and fired the puck through the five-hole of Gorsuch at 5:13.

The Broncos picked up their third goal when Josh Passolt split two Maverick defensemen and slid the puck past Weninger at 15:35.

But the Mavericks answered back just 24 seconds later when Steve Spinner tipped in a point shot by Grant Gallo to close the scoring.

Weninger made 34 saves to improve to 12-8-0 on the year while Blacker took the loss with four goals against and seven saves in almost 27 minutes of work.  Gorsuch allowed three and made 21 saves in relief.

The Mavericks return to the road to face St. Cloud State on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 2-3.

GAME NOTES:

• The Mavericks improved to 10-3-1 at home this season, matching their win total from the inaugural season of Baxter Arena.
• During their six-game home win streak, the Mavericks have outscored opponents, 38-19.
• With two goals in the game, Pope moved into a tie for the NCHC goal-scoring lead.  He ranks third in scoring for all games played with a career-best 35 points.
• Spinner tied his career best by scoring his eighth goal of the season.
• Zach Jordan, Joel Messner and Tristan Keck finished with two assists.
• With three points in the game, Vesel earned his 100th career point becoming the 16th player to do so.
• Vesel led the Mavericks in scoring for the series with two goals and three assists for five points.  Pope, who had three goals and an assist, and Jake Randolph (four assists) tied for second.
• Weninger finished the weekend with a .930 save percentage, stopping 66 of 71 shots.
• The game marked the 17th time in 26 games that the Mavericks have scored four or more goals in a game.  They moved into first in the NCHC in scoring, averaging 3.69 goals a game, just .02 ahead of St. Cloud State.  That mark puts them third nationally.

Three stars:  1. David Pope (UNO); 2. Tyler Vesel (UNO); 3. Zach Jordan (UNO)