Despite drawing first blood tonight, the Omaha Mavericks were unable to maintain the lead and dropped this weekend's series opener to the No. 15 St. Cloud State Huskies, 4-1.

With 7:05 remaining in the 1^st period, Graduate forward Jack Randl potted the games first goal after receiving a pass from Noah Ellis on the right-side circle. Randl extends his goal streak to four games with the 1^st period lamp lighter. It's the second time in his Maverick career he's scored in four consecutive contests.

At 17:27 of the first frame, a bouncing puck wound up on the stick of Verner Miettinen who was open out front of the Omaha cage to net a power play equalizer. SCSU took the lead at 2:38 of the 2^nd period after a review determined the puck crossed the goal line on a delayed penalty call. 56 seconds into period three, SCSU extended their lead to 3-1 after an airborne rebound hit Dylan Anhorn's pants and trickled into the Omaha net.

The NCAA's top faceoff team won the draw battle once again tonight. The Mavericks edged the Huskies 24-22 on the dot.

Omaha will look to continue their winning ways tomorrow night after dropping a Friday night game. The Mavericks are 3-0 on the campaign after falling in the opening game of a series.

Omaha and St. Cloud State are set to drop the puck for the final time in 2023 tomorrow night from Baxter Arena at 7:07 p.m.