OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha hockey team fought back from an early deficit to forge a 1-1 tie with No. 4 Denver in their NCHC series opener on Friday at Baxter Arena.

Freshman Noah Prokop scored his first collegiate goal just 1:29 into the third period to knot the game and eventually force two overtimes and a shootout.  Denver secured the extra NCHC standings points with a goal from Brett Edwards in the fifth round.

The Mavericks are now 9-10-4 overall and 3-6-2-0/0 in the NCHC, good for seventh place.  Denver, which came into the game on a six-game winning streak, moved to 15-4-4 overall and 5-3-3-0/2 in the conference, good for third.

Denver got on top at 4:34 of the first when Brett Stapley stole the puck and set up Tyler Ward for his sixth goal of the year.

The Pioneers thoroughly controlled the rest of the period but exited with only the one-goal advantage.

The Mavericks got their feet under them in the second, outshooting DU, 13-10.

Prokop finally broke through goalie Magnus Chrona in the third.  He took advantage of a turnover behind the Denver goal line and banked the puck off the post and in for UNO's second shorthanded goal of the season.

Both Chrona and Omaha's Isaiah Saville, a pair of freshman, were strong in net.  Chrona stopped a game-high 29 while Saville had 27 saves as UNO outshot the Pioneers, 30-28.

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

GAME NOTES:

• The Mavericks have now tied Denver twice dating back to last season after a 15-game losing streak.
• The Mavericks registered their second one-goal game in a row after losing at North Dakota, 4-1, last Saturday.  In both games, their goal was unassisted.
• Omaha owned the advantage in the face-off circle, 27-25.
• UNO outpaced Denver in blocked shots, 17-6.

Three stars:  1. Brett Edwards/Denver (Shootout winning goal); 2. Noah Prokop/Omaha (Game-tying goal); 3. Tyler Ward/Denver (One goal)