GRAND FORKS, N.D. – No. 6 North Dakota earned a split of its weekend series with the No. 18 Omaha hockey team, winning 7-0 on Saturday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

The loss dropped the Mavericks to 10-9-1 overall and 3-7-0-0/0 in the NCHC, keeping them in a tie with Minnesota Duluth for seventh place.  UND moved into a tie for first place with St. Cloud State, improving to 6-4-3-0/2 in the conference and 11-6-5 overall.

North Dakota opened the scoring late in the first period.  Rhett Gardner's shot from the slot was blocked, but he scooped up the rebound and beat Kris Oldham who was screened at 17:54.

The Fighting Hawks put the game away in the second period, outshooting the Mavericks 19-1 and putting three more by Oldham.  Colton Poolman (PP/2:46), Joel Janatuinen (EV/4:02) and Christian Wolanin (EV/16:05) all tallied to make it 4-0 after two.

UND added three goals in the third period to cement the shutout win for goalie Peter Thome who made 15 saves.  Oldham stopped 25 shots as the Mavericks were outshot 32-15.

The Mavericks return home to host Miami on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 12-13.

GAME NOTES:

• The game was UNO's third shutout loss of the season.
• UNO's 15 shots on goal were a season low.
• The loss snapped UNO's three-game winning streak, its longest of the season.

Three stars:  1. Rhett Gardner (UND); 2. Joel Janatuinen (UND); 3. Peter Thome (UND)