Nick Dineen won't forget his first-ever contest against the University of Nebraska Omaha for a good long while.

Dineen recorded the first hat trick of his collegiate career against the team from his hometown on Saturday, fueling Colorado College to a 5-2 victory over the Mavericks in the opener of their two-game WCHA series at the World Arena.

The triumph, CC's sixth consecutive, lifted the fifth-place Tigers to within one point of fourth-place UNO in the league standings. They're now 11-7-1 overall and 8-5 in the WCHA, while Nebraska Omaha dropped to 11-5-1 overall and 8-4-1 in conference play.

Dineen scored once in each period, clicking on power plays in the first and second before completing his hat trick with a backhander from the left faceoff circle with 5:33 left in the encounter. Senior winger Stephen Schultz assisted on all three goals.      

Senior Tyler Johnson, who struck for his nation-leading eighth power-play goal to snap a 2-2 tie at 12:18 of the middle stanza, added an assist while senior defenseman Ryan Lowery and freshman left winger Dakota Eveland each helped set up two tallies.

Freshman center Archie Skalbeck also scored in the wild and highly emotional game that saw the visitors whistled for 42 minutes in penalties, including a pair of misconducts and 11 minors. Colorado College, which took only three minor penalties, converted on three of 11 power-play opportunities altogether.

Johnson has been credited with the game winner in the Tigers' last three victories and now has a team-high 12 goals overall for the season.

Senior defenseman Eric Olimb assisted on both red lighters for the Mavericks, who grabbed an early lead on Alex Hudson's wrist shot from the slot just 3:50 into the game. Terry Broadhurst also scored for UNO in the second period.

Sophomore goaltender Joe Howe finished with 20 saves for CC, which out-shot Nebraska Omaha by a 26-22 margin for the night. The teams meet in a 6:07 p.m. (MT) rematch on Sunday.