OMAHA, Neb. – No. 14 Arizona State held off a late rally by the Omaha hockey team, earning a 5-4 win in the nonconference series opener between the teams on Saturday night.

The Mavericks outshot the Sun Devils, 48-21, and had battled back from two goals down but ultimately dropped their eighth game of the year.  UNO is now 7-8-2 overall while ASU improved to 10-5-2.

Trailing 4-2 entering the third, the Mavericks quickly trimmed the deficit to one when Teemu Pulkkinen put back his own rebound at 4:11 for his fourth goal of the season.

Just 2:41 later, Taylor Ward tied the game, firing home a pass from Tyler Weiss for his eighth goal of the season.

But just over a minute later with the Mavericks on a power play, Brett Gruber got free for a breakaway and beat Austin Roden for the eventual game winner.

The Mavericks fired 48 shots on net in the game including 22 in the third, both season highs.

Roden finished with 16 saves while ASU's Evan Debrouwer made 44.

The Mavericks opened the scoring at 2:27 of the second period.  Nolan Sullivan made a steal at center ice and sped the other way on a breakaway.  He got Debrouwer to commit before slipping home a sharp-angle shot for his fourth goal of the year.

Zach Jordan bumped the UNO lead to 2-0 when he snapped a shot to the opposite corner for his eighth goal of the year at 7:53.

But the Sun Devils would get goals from Filips Buncis, Jordan Sandhu and Willie Knierim in a span of 1:34 to quickly grab the lead.

Johnny Walker then added a goal at 16:55 to make it 4-2 after two, setting the stage for the frantic third period.

The two teams face a quick turnaround, finishing the series on Sunday at 4:07 p.m.

GAME NOTES:
Both Jordan and Ward increased their lead in team goal scoring to eight apiece.
The Mavericks were 0-for-4 on the power play, landing nine shots on goal.  ASU was 0-for-3 with two shots.
Senior Tristan Keck returned to action for the first time since Oct. 31 at Alaska Anchorage.  He missed 11 games with an injury.

Three stars:  1. Jordan Sandhu/ASU (1-1-2); 2. Chayse Primeau/UNO (0-2-2); 3. Johnny Walker/ASU (1-1-2)