OMAHA, Neb. —The ninth-ranked Omaha Mavericks hockey team bounced back after a loss Friday night against the second-ranked North Dakota Fighting Hawks with a 5-4 win.

The Mavericks spread the wealth when it came to scoring goals Saturday night. Kevin Conley, Nolan Sullivan, Chayse Primeau, Taylor Ward and North Dakota transfer Jonny Tychonick each scored goals for the Mavericks.

“It’s obviously a big win for us taking down the No. 2 team in the nation,” Tychonick said. “We know we’re a really good hockey team, and we showed that tonight.”

The Mavericks were an efficient 3 of 5 on the power play Saturday compared to just 1 of 7 on Friday. Conley scored the third and game-winning power play goal that put the Mavericks up 5-3 with 4:43 remaining in the third period.

Omaha has shined defensively on the penalty kill their last two games holding the Fighting Hawks to a combined 1 of 10 on the power play. The Mavericks lead the nation in penalty kill percentage at 94.5%.

“Every single person on our penalty kill has done a great job at doing the work,” Tychonick said. “We preach every day to be a hard-nosed team.”

Goals from North Dakota’s Jasper Weatherby and Shane Pinto kept the game close at 3-2 Mavericks entering the third period. Goals by Ward and Conley in the third helped the Mavericks maintain their lead.

Third-period goals by North Dakota’s Ethan Frisch and a second goal by Pinto cut the Omaha lead to 5-4 with 12 seconds remaining, but the Mavericks played hard-nosed defense in the final seconds to hold on to a narrow one-goal win.  

“It’s not easy to regroup after a hard-fought battle and shows a lot of character when you come back prepared like we were tonight and execute a game plan, and the guys did just that,” Mavericks head coach Mike Gabinet said.  

The Mavericks will visit No. 20 Denver Pioneers for a two-game series on Feb. 5 and 6 from Magness Arena in Denver, Colorado.