KALAMAZOO, Mich. – No. 20 Western Michigan turned back a late charge from the No. 19 Omaha hockey team, holding on for a 3-2 win in the NCHC season opener for the Mavericks.

The Mavericks dip to 5-3-1 overall and 0-1-0-0/0 in the NCHC while the Broncos improved to 6-3-2 overall and 2-0-1-0/1 in the conference.

Trailing by two goals entering the third, the Mavericks were continually frustrated by the defensive-minded Broncos.  But with goalie Isaiah Saville pulled for an extra attacker during a four-on-four, Taylor Ward steered home a feed from Dean Stewart to make it 3-2 with 33.6 seconds remaining.

But the Mavericks could not get the equalizer in dropping the first game of the weekend series.

After two successful penalty kills, the Broncos broke on top with their first power play of the night.  Paul Washe steered home a pass from Dawson DiPietro at 15:49 of the first period.

The Mavericks tied the game at 6:19 of the second period when Chayse Primeau knocked in a pass from Martin Sundberg for his third of the year.

But just 1:37 later, the Broncos retook the lead when Washe scored from in tight.

Austin Rueschhoff added a shorthanded goal late in the period to put Western Michigan up 3-1 after two.

Saville made 22 saves for the Mavericks while the Broncos' Brandon Bussi stopped a game-high 30.

The two teams finish the series on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. CT.

GAME NOTES:

• With an assist on Primeau's goal, Tyler Weiss extended his point-scoring streak to a team season-high five games.
• Both teams received a five-minute major and a game misconduct.  Coming into the game, the Mavericks led the nation with an average of 19 penalty minutes per game.
• The Mavericks are now 4-3-0 all-time in NCHC openers.

Three stars:  1. Paul Washe/WMU (Two goals); 2. Brandon Bussi/WMU (30 saves); 3. Austin Rueschoff/WMU (SHG)