GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- In each of the last two seasons, Nebraska-Omaha didn't finish higher than fourth place in the eight-team National Collegiate Hockey Conference, a league title won by North Dakota this year and last.
 
But the Mavericks skated out of Grand Forks Friday night with one accomplishment in hand, being the only team to beat the Fighting Hawks at Ralph Engelstad Arena both seasons.
 
Junior wing Taylor Ward, the son of former UND star Dixon Ward, scored on a deflection of a Brandon Scanlin shot on a 4-on-3 power play at 1:17 of overtime to give the Mavericks a 3-2 win in the regular-season finale for both teams.
 
The Mavericks beat UND 6-3 on Jan. 10 last season, then did the trick again tonight, UND's only home losses in 26 games over the past two seasons.
 
"It would have been nice to finish the regular season with a win, but we're still No. 1 in our conference,'' UND captain Jordan Kawaguchi. "We're going to move on, and get ready for playoffs next week.''
 
UND ranked No. 1 nationally in all the polls this week, will take a 18-5-1 record and No.1 seed into the NCHC playoffs, to be held at Engelstad Arena beginning next Friday. UND's opponent will be Miami of Ohio, the No. 8 seed in the tournament.
 
On Senior Night with eight UND seniors honored before and after the game, UND turned in a sub-par team performance, falling behind 2-0 in the first period before rallying with goals by seniors Jackson Keane in the second period and Kawaguchi just 15 seconds into the third period to force the 3-on-3 overtime.
 
A slashing penalty on senior defenseman Matt Kiersted 50 seconds into overtime set up the Mavericks for the goal by Ward.
 
"I think it is a little bit of a wakeup call,'' Keane said. "I like the way we battled back, but we're got to be ready at the start.''
 
UND gave up goals to Kevin Conley and Chayse Primeau 14 seconds apart in the second period, Conley's power-play goal snapping UND's streak of 22 straight successful kills. Then in OT, Omaha's second power play goal in its three chances in the game spelled the difference.
 
The slow start by UND was an omen of bad things ahead. UND is now 1-5-1 this season when the opponent has scored the first goal of the game.
 
"We weren't our best,'' said UND coach Brad Berry, who shuffled the lineups of three of his lines after the slow start. "This time of the year, you have to be. I know it's an emotional game as far as Senior Night and everything, but we're got to make sure we're dialed in here next week to bring out best in the playoffs tournament here and the NCAAs.''
 
A hustle play by UND's fourth line sparked a rally from down 2-0. Louis Jamernik led a rush and fired a backhander on net with Keane crashing in hard for the rebound for his second goal of the season and fifth in 68 career games, three against Omaha.
 
Kawaguchi knocked in a puck floating in the crease to start the third period for his seventh of the season, but Omaha had the answer in OT to salvage two wins out of six meetings with UND this season.
 
"We'll have a good week of practice, get sharp, turn the page and get ready for the next thing we need to do, the next box we need to check'' Berry said.
 
Senior Peter Thome finished with 17 saves for UND with Isaiah Saville making 26 stops for Omaha (14-9-1) in front of 2,723 fans.
 
Game notes:
*UND, which led the NCHC with 27 power-play goals, was 0-5 Friday. UND had connected on 6 of 9 power plays in its two previous games against the Mavericks.
*UND has outscored its opponents 30-8 in its seven home games this season.
*Jasper Weatherby assisted on Kawaguchi's goal to extend his point streak to eight straight (8G, 5A)
*Mark Senden, Jake Sanderson, Collin Adams, Tyler Kleven and Kiersted all had 3 shots on goal to lead UND.
*Adams won 12 of 18 faceoffs to pace the Hawks in that category.
*North Dakota's last OT loss came on Dec. 8, 2018 vs. Denver. 
 
Virg Foss covered UND hockey for 35 seasons for the Grand Forks Herald, including 5 NCAA title teams, before his retirement. Since his retirement, he's written about UND hockey games exclusively for FightingHawks.com. This marks his 51st  season since he began covering UND hockey in 1969.