OMAHA, Neb. – The No. 20 Omaha hockey team scored two goals early in the third period to pull away for a 5-2 win over No. 12 Wisconsin on Saturday night at Baxter Arena.

Junior Martin Sundberg and freshman Joey Abate each tallied a goal and an assist; and Nate Knoepke and Nolan Sullivan each had a pair of assists as 11 different players figured into the scoring for UNO.

The win gave the Mavericks a split after the Badgers won by the same score in the series opener on Friday.  UNO improves to 5-2-1 on the season while Wisconsin is now 5-5-0.

Leading 3-2 after two, the Mavericks wasted little time adding to their lead when the third period began.  Sundberg bulled his way through a crowd of people in front of the Wisconsin net and knocked in a loose puck for his first goal of the season and second of his career.

Less than three minutes later, the Mavericks put the game out of reach when Sundberg fed Josh Boyer for a one-timer from the low slot for his second goal of the year.

Omaha locked down the potent Wisconsin attack from there, limiting the Badgers to just five shots on goal while landing 18 of their own.

Isaiah Saville was sharp in earning his fourth win of the season with 29 saves.  UW starter Daniel Lebedeff made 27 saves and was lifted after allowing the fifth goal.  Jack Berry mopped up with 10 saves in 14:43.

The Mavericks opened the scoring at 10:45 of the first period when Taylor Ward scored off the rush.  He took a pass from Teemu Pulkkinen and zipped a shot past Lebedeff's glove.

The Badgers responded just 27 seconds later when Alex Turcotte fired a shot to the top corner off a two-on-one rush.

Omaha grabbed the lead back just 1:57 into the second period.  Abate flipped the puck into the Wisconsin crease, and it got behind Lebedeff.  Kevin Conley poked it home for his second goal of the season.

Abate boosted the lead to 3-1 when he fired home a pass from Tyler Weiss at 7:42.

UW got one goal back during a five-on-three power play when Turcotte scored his third of the weekend at 15:09.

It was Omaha's second win over a ranked team this season following a 2-1 win at then-No. 12 Ohio State on Oct. 19.

The Mavericks open NCHC play next weekend when they visit Western Michigan on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 15-16.

GAME NOTES:

• Abate's goal stood up as the game winner.  All four of his goals this season have been game winners putting him in the lead in the NCAA.  He's now tied with Zach Jordan for the team goal-scoring lead.
• Sundberg's goal was his first since March 3, 2018 at Minnesota Duluth.  He played just nine games last season because of injury.
• Freshman Kirby Proctor led the Mavericks with five blocked shots as UNO had a 21-10 edge in that category.
• Saville improved this goals-against average to 2.27, third best in the NCHC.  His .914 save percentage leads all NCHC goalies.
• UNO's 42 shots on goal were a season high.
• The Mavericks entertained their largest crowd of the season for the second consecutive night, welcoming 6,411 to Baxter Arena.

Three stars:  1. Joey Abate/Omaha (GWG, 1-1-2); 2. Martin Sundberg/Omaha (1-1-2); 3. Alex Turcotte/Wisconsin (2-0-2)