EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — After six road games to start the season, the LIU men's ice hockey team opened its 20-game home slate on Friday night at Northwell Health Ice Center.

And the Sharks went down to the wire against Omaha before falling, 2-1.

Ty Mueller scored the game-winner for the Mavericks with 5 minutes, 57 seconds remaining in regulation.

The Sharks had been 0-for-7 on the power play but creeping closer and closer when they finally broke through with 16 seconds remaining in the second period. With Omaha defenseman Joaquim Lemay midway through serving a major penalty for boarding, Jordan Di Cicco converted on wrister from the right faceoff circle to even the score at 1.

"We gave up a goal early, and I thought we bounced back very well," Di Cicco said. "We brought it to them and ended up getting a tying goal. Just closing out is the next big thing here."

LIU goaltender Vinnie Purpura had his latest standout performance, making 27 saves and shaking off a third-period collision before departing for an extra skater with just more than a minute remaining.

The teams meet again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Northwell Health Ice Center.

"It was a tough way to end it," Di Cicco said. "I thought there was a lot of good that we did, but in the end it just comes down to the little details. Giving up a late goal is tough, but we'll be hungry for tomorrow."

Said coach Brett Riley: "I hate to keep defaulting back to the scores from last year versus the scores from this year, but we have to measure this in terms of progress. And there's definitely a lot of progress."