OMAHA, Neb. – Junior Chayse Primeau had a goal and two assists, headlining a strong team effort as the No. 9 Omaha hockey team beat No. 2 North Dakota, 5-4, on Saturday night at Baxter Arena.

The win gave the Mavericks a split of the weekend series and boosted their record to 10-5-1 overall and 10-5-1-2-0 (1) in the NCHC, putting them fourth.  The Fighting Hawks, who lost for just the second time in the last 12 games, fell to 13-4-1 overall and 13-4-1-2-0 (0) in the conference, good for first.

Junior Jonny Tychonick, who transferred to Omaha from North Dakota during the offseason, had a goal and an assist against his old team, and Tyler Weiss had three assists.  Brandon Scanlin had a pair of assists.

Five different players scored for the Mavericks who earned three of their goals on the power play.

Inside the First Period
The Mavericks got out to the first lead of the night when Kirby Proctor sent a long up-ice pass to Primeau.  He broke in alone, beating goalie Adam Scheel with a nifty backhander at 8:29.

Omaha used the power play to double its lead.  Nolan Sullivan scooped up the rebound of a shot by Tychonick and fired home his fourth of the year at 12:05.

UND clawed back into the game with a power play goal from Shane Pinto and another from Jasper Weatherby just after a power play had expired.

But with 10.8 seconds remaining, the Mavericks got the lead back when Tychonick followed his own rebound and tucked a shot past Scheel for his second goal of the season.

Inside the Second Period
Both teams clamped down on defense.  The Mavericks, in particular, cut down UND's shots by nearly half after the wide-open first.

Omaha maintained its lead at the break.

Inside the Third Period
The Mavericks added to their advantage at 4:51 when Taylor Ward collected a pass from Weiss and fired a sharp-angle shot past Scheel for his team-leading eighth goal of the year.

The Fighting Hawks trimmed the lead to one when Ethan Frisch beat Isaiah Saville with a wrist shot from the low slot at 7:53.

Omaha's power play picked up its third goal of the game when Kevin Conley's shot from the hashmarks deflected over Scheel at 15:57.

UND would once more close the gap when Pinto scored his second while Scheel was out for an extra attacker.  But his goal at 19:46 came too late for the Fighting Hawks to mount a threat to tie the game.

Saville finished with a career-high 43 saves while Scheel stopped 22 for North Dakota.

The Mavericks head west next weekend, facing Denver on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 5-6, at Magness Arena.

GAME NOTES:

• The Mavericks' power play had its best night of the season against the NCHC's second-best penalty killing unit, going 3-for-5.
• Omaha's penalty kill streak was snapped at 50 when Pinto scored in the first period.  The Mavericks finished 4-for-5 on the PK.
• By earning the split, the Mavericks have now earned points against UND in all but four of the 19 regular season meetings.
• The game was the 16th one-goal game between the two schools.
• Omaha improved to 9-1-1 when scoring the first goal of the game this season.
• Kirby Proctor and Nolan Krenzen led the Mavericks with six blocked shots each.

Three Stars:  1. Chayse Primeau/Omaha (1-2-3); 2. Tyler Weiss/Omaha (Three assists); 3. Jonny Tychonick/Omaha (1-1-2)