Given the circumstances, this arguably was Colorado College's most critical game of the season to date.  

CC responded splendidly, using a goal and two assists by sophomore left wing Jaden Schwartz to squeeze past the University of Nebraska Omaha, 4-3, in the nationally televised opener of a two-game series at the World Arena on Friday.

The teams meet in a rematch at 7:07 p.m. MT Saturday.

The victory snapped a three-game winless skid for the Tigers, who moved ahead of UNO and back into fourth place all alone in the WCHA standings with a 13-9-1 record in league play. They improved to 16-11-2 overall while climbing from 22nd to 18th in the computerized Pairwise rankings that ultimately determine the 16 teams that participate in the post-season NCAA tournament.

Schwartz, who set up earlier tallies by his brother Rylan Schwartz and Nick Dineen, scored the game winner on a backhand at 2:47 of the third period, just 50 seconds after the visiting Mavericks had battled back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the contest.

Nebraska Omaha, 13-12-6 overall and 10-8-5 in league play, appeared to have pulled even again with 2:46 left, but after watching a video replay, referees Don Adam and Timm Walsh disallowed the goal that entered the net off the skate of UNO freshman center Dominic Zombo.

The Tigers seized a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Alexander Krushelnyski and Rylan Schwartz, who later set up his younger brother to record the 100th point of his collegiate career. The early goal, on an odd-man rush at 16:45, was his 20th of the season.

Krushelnyski electrified the crowd of 6,942 just 3:30 into the game, soloing in alone to beat Mavericks netminder Ryan Massa after taking a long clearing pass from Gabe Guentzel.

The teams combined for three power-play goals in the middle stanza, with Dineen sandwiching his, at  the 5:02 mark, between a pair by Nebraska Omaha's Johnnie Searfoss at 2:58 and Matt White at 14:45.

Senior defenseman Matt Smith's shot from a sharp angle on the left side found its way through traffic and past sophomore goalie Josh Thorimbert to knot the score at 3-3 with the third period only 1:57 old.

Thorimbert finished with 22 saves and Massa with 28, as Colorado College out-shot the Mavericks by a 32-25 margin including a 14-4 edge in the final 20 minutes. Junior right wing William Rapuzzi collected a pair of assists for CC.