Shorthanded CC’s upset bid falls short in season finale

The Tigers had their fans believing, St. Cloud State enthusiasts sweating and some National Collegiate Hockey Conference followers wondering what they were seeing Friday afternoon.
That’s because No. 7 seed Colorado College, playing with only 16 skaters and one goalie, nearly pulled off an unlikely upset before succumbing, 2-1, to the sixth-ranked Huskies in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff opener in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
And while the Tigers (4-17-2) only had one netminder available, he was almost enough. Sophomore Matt Vernon made 42 saves in a tremendous performance.
“I am super proud of them. From the cage out, they gave us and they gave each other everything they had,” coach Mike Haviland told KRDO Radio. “Guys sold out and blocked shots. We had guys just gassed and all we could say was bend, don’t break.
“They elevated their game and we needed that against one of the top teams in the country, that averaged more than three goals a game,” he added. “You feel bad about falling short but the effort and character was there and that means a lot to the (coaching) staff.”
CC’s chance at an upset began to slip away when senior defenseman Zach Berzolla was called for a 5-minute major kneeing penalty on SCSU leading scorer Veeti Miettinen (23 points, 10 goals), who had to be helped off the ice with 3:54 remaining in the second period.
The game misconduct cut the CC roster down to four available defensemen and the Huskies took advantage. Zach Okabe scored with 1:01 left in the second to tie the game at 1-1 for the No. 2 playoff seed.
But Vernon kept the Tigers in the game, making one spectacular save after another until junior defenseman Nick Perbix nudged in a rebound with 3:54 left in the third for the Huskies’ first and only lead of the game, 2-1.
By then, the wear and tear of playing shorthanded was evident. The visibly-tired Tigers were unable to generate any offense in the third period including no shots on goal in the final period of CC’s season.
SCSU out shot CC by a 44-7 margin, including 20-0 following the Berzolla penalty. CC’s last shot of the game was by senior defenseman McKay Flanagan with 5:16 left in the second period.
Earlier, the Tigers had the NCHC Twitterverse abuzz when Flanagan, playing only his second game this abbreviated season, fired a long-range shot from just beyond the center red line.
It apparently caught Huskies goalie David Hrenak (six saves) by surprise and the 100-foot-plus shot got past the netminder with 17:58 left in the second period, handing the Tigers a surprising 1-0 lead on only the team’s fourth shot of the game.
It was Flanagan’s first college goal and set the stage for an improbable upset.
“Even when we were down to four D, they dug ever deeper,” Haviland said. “It shows a lot about the character of the young men in that room. They believed in the plan, stuck with the plan and we got a good bounce there from Flanny.”
The plan was a defensive one. CC effectively clogged up the neutral zone to slow down the potent Huskies, who were looking for an end-to-end affair that would wear down the No. 7 seed.
Once SCSU entered the Tigers zone, the CC defenders did a solid job forcing the puck to the outside, alleviating some of the pressure on Vernon, whose extraordinary effort made the difference until late.
Before the game, Grand Forks Herald beat writer Brad Scholossman put it into perspective: No. 1 North Dakota leading scorer Shane Pinto had one more goal (15) this season than the remaining Tigers (14) entering the contest.
Perhaps the Huskies thought Friday’s game would be an easy win. To the Tigers’ credit, it was anything but.