KALAMAZOO, Mich. – No. 19 Omaha will be fighting to keep its season alive on Saturday night.

The Mavericks (21-16) carried a 2-1 lead into the third period against No. 7 Western Michigan Friday at Lawson Arena only to have the Broncos rally for a 4-2 victory in the opener of the NCHC quarterfinals.

Luke Grainger, who entered Friday with four goals on the season, recorded a hat trick for WMU and scored twice in the third as his team rallied from behind. He netted the game-winner with 4:22 left.

Omaha, which had a scoring opportunity of its own just before the game-tying goal, pulled goaltender Isaiah Saville with more than two minutes remaining. Ethen Frank's empty-net goal put the game away.

Grainger opened the scoring for the third-seeded Broncos 3:45 in. The Mavericks, however, responded with a power-play goal from Matt Miller and a Taylor Ward score to go up 2-1 at the first intermission.

Omaha outshot Western Michigan 31-28 in the game and had chances to extend its advantage. Its lead, however, remained at one until Grainger netted the equalizer nearly eight minutes into the final period.

The Mavericks nearly scored in a scramble at the net at the other end just before that. They'll need to win Game 2 on Saturday in order to force a winner-take-all finale on Sunday to advance to a semifinal.