GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The Omaha hockey team got goals from six different players to knock off No. 1 North Dakota, 6-3, on Friday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

The win was the first for the Mavericks over a top-ranked team since they beat the Fighting Hawks, 4-3 in overtime, on Jan. 15, 2016.  UNO improved to 9-9-3 overall and 3-5-1-0/0 in the NCHC, moving them into sixth place, while UND lost its first game since Oct. 19, dropping to 16-2-2 overall and 7-1-1-1/0 in the conference, still good for first.

Leading 4-2 after two, the Mavericks saw UND draw to within one goal for the third time in the game when Jasper Weatherby scored from a tough angle at 7:26.

But the Mavericks got empty net goals in the final three minutes from Martin Sundberg and Joey Abate to squelch UND's comeback bid.

The Mavericks never trailed in the game, picking up their fifth road win of the year and matching their win total from last season.

The lead came early in the game.  Taylor Ward jumped on the rebound of a shot by Abate and fired the puck past goalie Adam Scheel just 49 seconds into the game.  It was his team-leading 11th goal of the year.

UND tied the game at 3:22 when Mark Senden wheeled and fired a shot from the low slot that beat Isaiah Saville up high.

But just 1:34 later, the Mavericks were in front again.  Chayse Primeau grabbed a loose puck and fired home his sixth goal of the year at 4:56.

The Mavericks made it 3-1 early in the second period on a great individual play by Jason Smallidge.  He cut in from the right wing and got off a shot in tight.  Scheel made the save, but Smallidge put back his own rebound at 3:01 for his career-best third goal of the year.

North Dakota again got to within one when Grant Mismash collected a bouncing puck and slipped it home just 1:18 later.

Zach Jordan restored the two-goal lead off the rush, firing home a pass from Tristan Keck to make it 4-2 after two.

Saville made 26 saves for his seventh win of the season.  Scheel suffered the loss, giving up four goals on eight shots.  Peter Thome finished up, making three saves in just over 25 minutes of work.

The two teams finish the series on Saturday at 7:07 p.m.

GAME NOTES:

• The Mavericks ended North Dakota's 13-game home streak, one that started with a two-game sweep of the Mavericks at the end of the 2018-19 season.  It also put an end to UND's 15-game unbeaten streak.
• With a goal and an assist in the game, Ward moved into a tie with Kevin Conley for the team scoring lead with 18 points.
• Sundberg's goal was his career-best third goal of the season and career-best eighth point.
• Freshman Noah Prokop picked up his first collegiate point with an assist on Smallidge's goal.
• In addition to being the game-winning goal, Jordan's goal was his 10th of the season, giving UNO two double-digit goal scorers so far this season.

Three stars:  1. Tristan Keck/Omaha (Two assists); 2. Grant Mismash/UND (One goal); 3. Isaiah Saville/Omaha (26 saves)