Tigers use bye week to prepare for Minnesota Duluth road series

By Joe Paisley

Colorado College took advantage of a bye week to relax a little, bond over turkey, and focus a lot on sustaining offensive zone pressure before resuming play against an already familiar National Collegiate Hockey Conference foe.

“We really like the way we break out and we like our neutral zone forecheck which has led to some good opportunities, but we haven’t been able to just sustain offense for long periods of time and just wear down other teams down,” Tigers coach Kris Mayotte said. “We did a lot of work on strategy, skills, all of it to improve that side of our game.”

The Tigers head to Amsoil Arena Dec. 2-3 to face unranked Minnesota Duluth to conclude their season series after a split at Ed Robson Arena earlier. CC rode that momentum to a five-point road weekend at Miami before coming down to Earth against No. 3 (then-No. 4) St. Cloud State before the Thanksgiving week break. The CC (5-8-1, 2-3-1 NCHC) used the extra practice time to focus on what went wrong against the Huskies,

“We got to see what we did wrong during the St. Cloud weekend and fix our mistakes and fine tune our details so hopefully this weekend we will be a lot better,” senior defenseman Connor Mayer said.

They will need to perform well against an improving Bulldogs squad (7-7, 3-3) that adjusted its lines and was good in transition last weekend in a road split at fourteenth-ranked Western Michigan. The Tigers and UMD are tied for fifth in the league just ahead of seventh-place North Dakota.

“Watching them on film, they are who we thought they were coming in (Robson home series),” Mayotte said. “They are hard to play against. They play direct. Their transition offense is continuing to grow. I thought against Western Michigan their transition offense was really good and something we have to be mindful of. Their D corps is a big art of their offense so we need to get a body on them.”

“We’re actually excited to get to play them again so quickly,” Mayotte said. “I think it is a good opportunity to see how much you’ve learned how much you’ve grown.”

It promises to be another challenging road series as all are in the meat grinder that is the NCHC.

“We know they will have a two-night push for sure,” Mayer said. “The biggest thing is its their home rink so they will want to assert dominance. We need to be the ones to be aggressive, push pace and show our game play instead of letting them dictate.”

League monthly honor for Mbereko

Colorado College freshman Kaidan Mbereko was the NCHC Goaltender of the Month for November. The Aspen native started all six games in November and now has a 3-5-1 record,.920 save percentage, and 2.38 goals against mark.

Injury update

Freshman forward Gleb Veremyev is out for the rest of this season after being injured in the Game 2 home loss to St. Cloud State due to a “lower-body injury that requires surgery.” The 6-4, 206-pound forward from New Jersey finished his rookie season with seven points (five assists) in 14 games.

Center Logan Will is listed as questionable with a lower-body injury.

New forward commit announces intent

Former Arizona State commit Riley Stuart – no relation to former Tigers Colin, Mark and Mike Stuart – announced his switch to CC Wednesday afternoon on Twitter. The Dubuque Fighting Saints captain and forward is projected to record 23 points in 60 games in the USHL this season. The Phoenix native is listed at 6-foot-1, 201 pounds.

Gold Pan series opener between Denver and Colorado College moves to Ball Arena, home of Stanley Cup champ Colorado Avalanche

Photo courtesy University of Denver Athletics

By Joe Paisley

The Gold Pan series was already a big deal for Front Range college hockey fans and now it again has a venue to match.

The series-opening game between Colorado College and No. 1 Denver, originally scheduled for Magness Arena, will now be played at Ball Arena, home of the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.

Game time and date remains 7 p.m. Jan. 27, 2023.

“We are excited to take one of the best rivalries in college hockey to Ball Arena,” Colorado College coach Kris Mayotte said in a media release. “It shows the tremendous appetite for hockey in Colorado.  We are looking forward to an incredible atmosphere and event.”

The last time the two rivals met in a major league venue was the Battle on Blake at the Colorado Rockies’ Coors Field on Feb. 20, 2016.

“The Denver-Colorado College rivalry is one of the most-played series in college hockey, and we’re looking forward to showcasing our two historic programs at the home of the Avalanche,” Denver coach David Carle said.  “We are thrilled to host this game at Ball Arena to give the great hockey fans of Denver and our program an opportunity to see us in an NHL venue. The goal is to provide our players with an experience that will be similar to the “Battle on Blake” in 2016, the Loveland Regional last season, and ultimately a taste of what the Frozen Four in Tampa, Florida, this April will be like.”

“Colorado College is excited to participate in this exciting event that will showcase college hockey in Colorado and provide an exciting experience for our student-athletes, community and fans,” CC’s Vice President and Director of Athletics Lesley Irvine said. 

Fans who currently have tickets for the Jan. 27 game at Magness should have received information prior to the media release. If not, contact the DU Ticket Office. Ticket holders will be reseated to comparable locations at Ball Arena at no additional cost.  

The Pioneers and CC Tigers have played 332 times, the second-most played rivalry in college hockey behind Michigan-Michigan State (333 games). The defending National Collegiate Hockey Conference regular-season champions won its third-straight Gold Pan series and the program’s NCAA record-tying ninth national championship last season.

Huskies dominate from the start, rout Tigers to secure National Collegiate Hockey Conference road series sweep

By Joe Paisley

COLORADO SPRINGS — No. 4 St. Cloud State got off to another fast start to open Saturday’s series finale but unlike in Friday’s loss, Colorado College did not muster an answer.

The Huskies were the superior team from the opening faceoff, recording the eventual game-winner just five minutes into a 5-0 victory that secured a National Collegiate Hockey Conference road sweep. It was the Tigers’ third straight home loss.

“We didn’t get any (defensive) stops,” CC coach Kris Mayotte said. “They did the same thing for two straight games in terms of down low. They released it down low. Their guy got first touch and then he got to wheel and do whatever he wanted with (the puck). We just weren’t hard enough.”

“It’s not like our guys were out there not working,” he added. “But you have to have a toughness when you do it. We got pushed around.”

St. Cloud State dominated the first period by bulling their way to the front of the CC net and generating most of their shots from below the faceoff dots. That made life difficult for freshman Kaidan Mbereko (seven saves), who allowed three goals in one period for the first time in his college career. 

“The start wasn’t much different from last night,” Mayotte said. “They pushed early and we got saves. It wasn’t terribly different but we did not handle the adversity well. We weren’t able to stop the bleeding. Credit to them. They were good. They were hard.  Tougher team won tonight.”

Senior Matt Vernon replaced Mbereko to start the second but it did not provide the spark Mayotte was looking for. A 2-on-1 breakaway led to a Zach Okabe goal 3:01 into the period to make it 4-0 and seal the win. Okabe scored late in the third for the final margin.

In the opening period, the Huskies scored 5:03 in on a redirect by Jack Rogers followed by a score down low by Josh Luedtke abut 10 minutes later. A power-play goal by former CC captain Grant Cruikshank made it 3-0 and put the fourth-ranked Huskies (11-3-0, 4-2-0 NCHC) firmly in control with 4:54 remaining in the opening frame.

A stout St. Cloud State defense aided goalie Dom Basse, another former Tiger playing against past teammates. Basse finished with 36 saves for the shutout and improved to 3-8-1 at Robson Arena.

The Tigers (5-8-1, 2-3-1) have a bye for Thanksgiving weekend and then travel to Minnesota-Duluth to resume league play in early December.

CC freshman Gleb Veremyev suffered a lower-body injury behind the St. Cloud State net with 6:08 left in the second period and had to be helped off the ice.  

Ice chips

CC is now 4-3 at home after starting the season 4-0. … Hunter McKown’s seven power-play goals leads the NCAA … Noah Laba’s seven goals is tied for third among the nation’s freshmen. … Entering Saturday’s game, CC had allowed the fewest goals in NCHC play (eight). … SCSU now leads the all-time series 62-50-9 with a 36-23-3 mark in Colorado Springs. The Tigers have not defeated the Huskies at home since Feb. 22, 2013. … SCSU was picked to place fourth in the NCHC preseason poll and CC sixth.

No. 4 St. Cloud State Huskies grind out road win over comeback-minded Colorado College Tigers

By Joe Paisley

COLORADO SPRINGS – Colorado College battled back after a fluky goal broke a scoreless tie, but it was No. 4 St. Cloud State that eked out a 3-1 road win in a defensive struggle.

Dylan Anhorn’s game-winning goal came off a scramble in front of the Tigers net from where the puck leaked out to Anhorn, who rifled a wrister inside th enear post before CC freshman goalie Kaidan Mbereko could close off the gap. The game-winner came with 3:36 left. 

SCSU’s Zach Okabe added an empty-netter with about 11 seconds left for the final margin.

It was a tough ending for the Ed Robson Arena faithful, who saw the Tigers tie the National Collegiate Hockey Conference game at 1-1 with 14:29 remaining when CC freshman Noah Laba’s centering pass went in off a SCSU defender past goalie Jaxon Castor (28 saves).

Both teams did a good job disrupting the other team’s efforts to enter the offensive zone, let alone set up and sustain pressure. SCSU was better early, but the Tigers forecheck started to even things up over the final 15 minutes, especially after the emotional surge provided by Laba’s tying tally.

“It was a bend, don’t break thing on both sides,” CC coach Kris Mayotte said. “Some of the best chances never quite got there and you had guys at their end diving for pucks and guys on our end doing the same. I thought it was a good, hard, tight NCHC hockey game.”

The teams combined for 20 blocked shots (SCSU, 12) with a shot by CC’s Connor Mayer clanging off the post in the first period.

In a defensive grind of a game highlighted by superior goalie play, it was an awkward bounce that opened the scoring

St. Cloud State went ahead 1-0 with 2:16 left in the second period when Brendan Bushy lofted a shorthanded clearing attempt toward the CC net from where Mbereko had made 19 stops for the Tigers (5-7-1, 2-2-1).

But the puck appeared to land on its side, hitting the ice and bouncing up and over Mbereko as he went down to stop what appeared to be his easiest save of the night. Bushy lofted the shot from inside the right faceoff circle in the Huskies’ zone, about 160 feet from Mbereko.

“It happens,” Mayotte said. “It was an unfortunate bounce but our response was the right one.”

Mbereko and Castor put on a show with each coming up with some big-time stops to keep it scoreless through the first 37 minutes.  

Castor made a spectacular save with 7:18 left in a 1-1 game when he reached behind his back and swatted away the puck after it squirted past him. 

Mbereko, who came into the home series with two-straight weekly league honors, made 26 saves in the game, including 15 in the first period as the Huskies (10-3, 3-2 NCHC) controlled most of the play in the opening 30 minutes

“I thought the first half of the game we were passive and we just accepting their speed and accepting their transition and not confronting that well,” Mayotte said. “We protected our net well but we weren’t in their face at all. Then our second half was much better. We started to dictate, close space which led to turnovers which gives you more space when you have the puck. It was unfortunate we could only do that for half a game but I give credit to (SCSU), they came out hard, played fast and out us on our heels.”

Ice chips

The Robson Arena was a bit quieter than usual with the students on fall break through Nov. 27. … Entering Saturday’s series finale, SCSU leads the all-time series 61-50-9 with a 35-23-3 mark in Colorado Springs. The Tigers have not defeated the Huskies at home since Feb. 22, 2013. CC is now 0-9-1against the Huskies in their last 10 meetings after sweeping the Huskies in St. Cloud during the 2019-20 season.  … Last Saturday’s 2-1 road win at Miami was the first Tigers victory this season when they scored fewer than four goals.  … SCSU was picked to place fourth in the NCHC preseason poll and CC sixth. … A pair of Huskies – senior forward Grant Cruikshank and junior goalie Dominic Basse started their college careers at CC. Cruikshank spent 2018-21 and was a two-year captain for the Tigers where he recorded 45 points (30 goals). He transferred during the coaching transition from Mike Haviland to Mayotte. Basse played two seasons for Colorado College (2020-22), producing a 10-26-3 mark in 41 games. … The Tigers have a bye for Thanksgiving weekend and then travel to Minnesota-Duluth to open December play.

Tigers signee Gavin Lindberg named to Team USA for World Junior A Challenge tournament

Colorado College signee Gavin Lindberg was named to the U.S. Junior Select Team to compete in the 2022 World Jr. A Challenge Dec. 11-18 in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada.

The 6-foot-1,190-pound righthanded forward with the Waterloo Black Hawks is one of seven future National Collegiate Hockey Conference players picked for the team which will be coached by former CC defenseman and assistant Eric Rud, currently the head coach of the Sioux Falls Stampede.

The Moorhead, Minn. native (pictured signing his National Letter of Intent to play for the Tigers) has 12 points (eight assists) in 13 games, including three power-play goals.

The Americans will compete against Canada East, Canada West, Czechia, Latvia and Sweden. Since the inaugural tournament in 2006, Team USA has won gold eight times, finished second once and third four times. The tourney was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 by Hockey Canada due pandemic restrictions.

Mbereko, power play the difference as Colorado College Tigers hold off Miami RedHawks for first road win of the season

By Joe Paisley

Colorado College grinded out its first road win of the season and garnered five out of a possible six league points with a 2-1 win over host Miami Saturday night.

Miami outplayed the visiting Tigers over the final two periods, but a productive CC power play and freshman goalie Kaidan Mbereko (34 saves) carried the day. The Aspen native followed up his first National Collegiate Hockey Conference Goalie of the Week honors by allowing just two goals on the weekend with 56 saves. 

“We had a chance because he made difficult saves and made them look easy,” CC coach Kris Mayotte told KRDO radio.

CC got much-needed breathing room on junior Hunter McKown’s NCAA-leading seventh power-play goal with just 36.4 seconds remaining in the second period.  Assists on the eventual game-winner went to freshmen forwards Gleb Veremyev and Ryan Beck after McKown rifled in the shot from the left face-off circle for a 2-0 lead. 

But the Tigers could not finish off the RedHawks (4-6-2). 

Miami scored just 36 seconds into the third period to cut the CC lead to 2-1 and set the stage for a tense final 20 minutes in the league series finale. A RedHawks hooking call with 1:20 left negated the extra attacker advantage and the Tigers held on for the victory at Steve Cady Arena in Oxford, Ohio.

“It started to turn early in the second,” Mayotte said. “They came out and pushed and we didn’t manage it well. We certainly have a step or two to make in learning how to finish out games and managing a lead.”

The RedHawks seized control in the second by outshooting the Tigers (5-6-1) by a 15-12 margin after CC led that stat 9-5 in the first. Miami enjoyed an eye-popping 15-2 advantage in the third for a 35-23 edge for the game.

“It felt like (15-2) too,” Mayotte said. “Our defensemen were great tonight because our forwards left them out to dry a lot tonight.”

Miami’s 35-23 shots margin for the contest is more notable when you consider MU did not record a shot on goal for the first 9 minutes, 42 seconds of the game.

Colorado College’s strong first period paid off with a power-play goal by junior winger Tyler Coffey, who swept in a rebound from 18 inches away after Miami goalie Ludvig Persson was unable to smother a hard shot by sophomore Stanley Cooley. The puck slid over toward the far post where Coffey was waiting. Junior Matthew Gleason got the second assist on the tally with 5:48 left in the first for a 1-0 lead. The CC power play went 3 for 10 on the weekend and 2 for 6 Saturday.

“It’s nice when you have two units you can put out there that can get the job done,” Mayotte said. “Hunter’s goal was a big-time goal. Our power play has been really good all year.”

Signing update

Defenseman Ryan Koering (Eden Prairie, Minn. HS senior captain, 2023 NHL Draft late-round prospect) tweeted out a picture of him signing his letter of intent to play for CC during the second period Saturday.

Ice chips

CC leads the all-time series 17-11-4and have gone 9-1-2 in the last 12 games against the RedHawks, including a four-game season sweep last season. The Tigers and RedHawks do not meet again this regular season. … With an 8-0 win over Air Force and a 5-0 victory over Minnesota-Duluth, CC posted consecutive home shutouts for the first time since Nov. 18-19, 2005 over Michigan Tech (5-0, 3-0). … CC equipment manager Spud Hamilton’s birthday is this Sunday. … Yoon has 10 points on the season (nine assists), just shy of the 12 points (11 assists) he recorded last season. The Colorado native recorded a career-high 26 points (23 assists) as a freshman when he was named to the 2018-19 NCHC All-Rookie team.  

Next up

The Tigers host No. 4 St. Cloud State (8-3, 1-2 NCHC entering Saturday) next weekend at Ed Robson Arena. CC has a Thanksgiving weekend bye.

Tigers hold on late, prevail in shootout over Miami for two points in National Collegiate Hockey Conference road series opener

By Joe Paisley

Colorado College defeated host Miami in a shootout to secure two out of a possible three National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings points Friday in Oxford, Ohio.

Freshman Ryan Beck opened the shootout with a score and Tigers freshman goalie Kaidan Mbereko (22 saves) stifled all three RedHawks shootout tries. The game ended tied 1-1 in regulation after the teams exchanged goals in the second period.

CC forward Danny Weight was called for the 5-minute contact to the head penalty (no game misconduct) with 6:40 left in the third period following a video review, but the Tigers penalty kill calmly turned the RedHawks away.

“Our penalty kill was fantastic all night and your PK cannot be that without your goalie,” Tigers coach Kris Mayotte told KRDO Radio. “There was a lot of traffic around (Mbereko) and fought through it. He made a lot of difficult saves look easy and trust me, those were not. I cannot tell you what it means for your bench after finding a way to get it done on that PK.”

CC rode the momentum of that penalty kill over the final 1:24 of the third period and generated some quality scoring chances in a wild, albeit scoreless, 3-on-3 overtime.

The Tigers (4-6-1) are still searching for their first road win of the season but those two standings points are as critical now as they are in February.

“I was really proud of our guys tonight,” Mayotte said. “We didn’t have our best start but the second period might have been the best period of hockey we have played this year, especially in terms of them doing what we ask them to do. It was good to put one of those together on the road.”

The Tigers gave up their third shorthanded goal this season when Miami junior forward Red Savage opened the scoring in the second period. 

CC would answer when Matthew Gleason batted in a power-play rebound past RedHawks goalie Ludvig Persson (35 saves) with 6:19 left in the middle frame to tie it at 1-1. Assists went to Nicklas Andrews and Stanley Cooley.

Mbereko and Persson both performed well with the Tigers netminder steering away two quality Miami scoring chances in the first period including a stop on a breakaway late to keep it scoreless into the second period at Steve Cady Arena on the Miami campus.

Game 2 of the series starts at 3 p.m. Mountain Saturday.

Tigers looking inward to find winning road formula as CC heads to Miami for National Collegiate Hockey Conference series

By Joe Paisley

Colorado College hockey hopes to break through for its first road win this season when they travel to league foe Miami in Oxford, Ohio.

The 4-6 Tigers (1-1 National Collegiate Hockey Conference) are still trying to learn how to win on the road after starting 0-5 away from the friendly confines of Robson Arena.

“We seem to have two different mentalities whether we are playing at home or away,” said forward Stanley Cooley, who recorded two goals in last Friday’s 5-0 win over then-No. 19 Minnesota Duluth. “We have had a lot of success at home, but we are trying to get that mentality for both road and home games. Our fans are great at home, they’re loud, the student section is great so we definitely feed off of that but on the road that has to come from more intrinsic motivation.”

Finding that internal spark instead of waiting for the game to break your way or a teammate to make a big play requires the Tigers to seize momentum and ride out any surge by the home foe.

“We have talked about this a bit with this team,” coach Kris Mayotte said. “You cannot wait for something to go your way for you to start feeling good about how you are playing or what you are here to do. On the road again, the momentum doesn’t swing as much as when you are at home. You just have to be comfortable in almost a boring atmosphere. On the road, boring is great because it keeps their fans out of it. We have to wrap our minds around that.”

“It’s still a part of our growth,” he added. “We are excited to go back on the road because we feel we have improved. Now we have to go prove it.”

The Saturday loss was a mixed bag for CC. They were in position to secure a home sweep against a perennial league power before falling short. While a disappointing result, the Bulldogs showed the Tigers how to grind out road victories.

“They played well on Saturday and kind of shut it down defensively,” Cooley said. “That is what we are trying to do so far this week in practice, focus on that defensively as well.”

“I love winning 5-0 but you have to learn how to win 2-1 as well,” Mayotte said. “We take positives out of it. It wasn’t a massive step back but the fact that we are sitting here disappointed that we didn’t weep Duluth is a positive conversation for us.”

CC will need to get off to a fast start on the road as it did in both home games against the Bulldogs.

“At home you have the energy, you have the crowd,” Mayotte said. “You have those things that build you momentum artificially. On the road you have to do it all yourself and with how the way you play. You have get momentum by finishing hits, getting it in deep, getting a shot on net. And just keep hitting repeat. We have to be ready to do that right at the drop of the puck.”

Miami is led by Red Wings draft pick and world juniors forward Red Savage (seven points, three goals) and his older brother Ryan Savage (four, three goals), Joe Cassetti (eight, five goals) and Matthew Barbolini (eight, four goals). But it is junior goalie Ludvig Persson (4-5-1, .913 saves, 2.75 goals against), who is the strength of the RedHawks.

“Their goalie is really good,” Mayotte said. “When he is on, he might be the best in the conference. He’s their backbone. They have talent and they know how to play offense. What you have to do against them is minimize their transition game and manage the puck well. I know it sounds like a broken record but when you play against teams with talent that’s how you do it. That’s the recipe. Their power play is good and if we let their top guys get confidence through that, we could be in for a long night. ”

Game times are 5 p.m. Mountain Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday with games broadcast live on NCHC.TV and KRDO 1240 AM and 105.5 FM.

CC forward Logan Will is out at least through Thanksgiving break with a lower-body injury, Mayotte added.

Ice chips

CC leads the all-time series 16-11-3 including four wins last season, winning twice in regulation at Miami and taking back-to-back overtime decisions at home in February. … Miami is seeking its first win vs. CC since Jan. 10, 2020 and first victory over the Tigers in Oxford since Nov. 3, 2017.

Tigers unable to hold on for home league sweep as No. 19 Bulldogs control play over final two periods, pull away late for comeback victory at Ed Robson Arena

By Joe Paisley

COLORADO SPRINGS – No. 19 Minnesota-Duluth showed everyone at Robson Arena why they have been a perennial NCAA title contender over the past decade.

The Bulldogs elevated their play in the second and third periods and Colorado College was unable to hold on in a 3-1 home loss Saturday night despite a superb effort by freshman goalie Kaidan Mbereko with 32 saves, including 27 over the final 40 minutes.

The Bulldogs out played the Tigers over the final two periods, outshooting the hosts by a 30-12 margin and 35-20 for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference game. The two foes split the series since CC won 5-0 Friday night. The Tigers are now 4-1 at home, 0-5 on the road this season.

“Duluth was good,” Tigers coach Kris Mayotte said. “Kind of like what we did (Friday) night, they established the forecheck, worked above, they had numbers back, made it hard to get though the neutral zone. 

“I thought they turned it up in the second period and we just didn’t manage it well,” he added. “They played more on their toes than we did tonight.”

Duluth’s Owen Gallatin fired a hard-angle backhander that went in off the back of Mbereko’s left leg for the game-winner with 1:41 left in the game. UMD’s Blake Biondi added an empty-netter with 36 seconds left for the final margin.

CC co-captain Bryan Yoon opened the scoring when he rifled a shot into the upper righthand corner of the net past a screened Matthew Thiessen (19 saves) to make it 1-0 with 7:51 left in the first period off a power-play assist by Hunter McKown. It was Yoon’s first goal this season.

The physical play picked up later in the first period with both teams finishing checks hard. The Tigers pressed the Bulldogs in the final seconds with a hard shot bouncing off Thiessen up into the air from where UMD’s Ben Steeves swatted the puck away as the horn sounded to end the opening period.

“We had a good first period,” Mayotte said. “We played well but we couldn’t do it consistently. Last night we were really good at having numbers around the puck and tonight we just weren’t.”

Duluth tied the game at 1-1 on a perfect power-play one-timer by Steeves just inside the near post as Mbereko slid over from the far post with 12:52 left in the second period. UMD did a better job sustaining offensive pressure and it began to pay off with quality scoring chances down low for the Bulldogs (5-5, 1-1 NCHC). 

But Mbereko remained calm under fire, making five stops in a wild 20-second sequence late in the second, including three after he lost his stick. The Tigers (4-6, 1-1 NCHC) seemed lucky to be holding on as the middle frame ended. They lost their grip in the third.

The Tigers were unable to sustain offensive pressure over the final 40 minutes managing just four shots on goal in the third, including two while skating with the extra attacker late.

“Our O-zone possession had been fantastic leading up to this weekend,” Mayotte said. “We wanted more of it but we didn’t do the little things that allow you to get into those tonight. We had a hard time getting out of our zone. Even when we did, we had a hard time even putting the pucks in spots where we could get it back. They had numbers around it. We were one to their two, one to their three a lot and you are not going to win many puck battles when that is the case.”

Ice chips

With Friday’s win, Colorado College improved to 4-5-1 in NCHC season openers with a 2-1 win over North Dakota on Oct. 27, 2017, 2-1 victory at Omaha on Nov. 4, 2016 and 3-1 over Duluth on Oct. 18, 2013, the inaugural league game for both programs. The Tigers opened the 2020 NCHC pod in Omaha with a 3-3 tie (shootout win) against Western Michigan. … The NCHC is celebrating its 10th season this fall. … CC last won its first four games at home during the 2011-12 season. …UMD leads the all-time series 108-85-11 with CC recording a 3-2-1 mark over the past three seasons.

Next up

The Tigers head on the road to play Miami (4-5-1, 0-4 NCHC) in Oxford, Ohio next weekend. The Red Hawks lost to No. 18 Western Michigan 5-2 on Saturday and was swept at home by defending NCAA champion Denver two weekends ago. Miami was picked to place last in the NCHC media preseason poll and the Tigers sixth.

Mbereko shutout, four-goal first period propel Tigers past No. 19 Minnesota-Duluth in an NCHC-opening rout

By Joe Paisley

COLORADO SPRINGS — It was another Fantastic Friday for Colorado College, which rolled to a 5-0 victory over No. 19 Minnesota-Duluth behind a 34-save shutout for freshman goalie Kaidan Mbereko.

Three of CC’s home wins have been on Fridays with the 4-5 Tigers outscoring their opponent by a 19-2 margin (24-3 if you count the exhibition). This one was especially important with the Tigers prevailing handily in their National Collegiate Hockey Conference opener and improving to 3-0 at Ed Robson Arena this season.

Stanley Cooley and Noah Laba each scored twice and Hunter McKown recorded his NCAA-leading sixth power-play goal to pace the Tigers (4-5, 1-0 NCHC). But it was the superior play of Mbereko (career-high 34 saves, first NCAA shutout) and the CC penalty kill (5 for 5) that allowed the Tigers to pull away.

“(Mbereko) did a really good job calming things down early,” CC coach Kris Mayotte said. “He ate things up, got whistles. He didn’t have to be spectacular early but he didn’t let them build any momentum. He looked very matter of fact even on the difficult saves.”

After an early penalty, the final 17 minutes of the first period could not have gone much better for Colorado College, which scored four goals, including two by Cooley 2 minutes, 28 seconds apart, to jump out to a 4-0 lead. 

“We could have not taken a penalty a minute into the game but after that I thought our response was great,” Mayotte said. “The kill did a great job, built the momentum even though we were on the kill early on. Then we go out and draw a penalty and the power play adds to that. Then we killed another penalty, which was a convincing kill and then another power play (goal). It’s nice when as a coach you can trust anybody you put out there.”

CC converted its first two power-play chances starting with a one-timer by McKown just 4:14 into the game. 

The aggressive Tigers created problems for the Bulldogs (4-5, 0-1 NCHC) with Tyler Coffey forcing a turnover about three minutes later and firing a hard shot that bounced off UMD goalie Zach Stejskal up into the air.

The UMD defenders lost track of the puck and Cooley, who backhanded the puck in with 12:43 left for a 2-0 lead.  CC converted on its next power play when Cooley knocked in a rebound off a shot by Matthew Gleason with 10:15 remaining for a 3-0 edge. 

“(Cooley) is the guy who quietly goes about his business but he is now at a point a game (four goals) after tonight,” Mayotte said. “He just plays an honest game. We had an emphasis on getting to the net better, not waiting for the perfect shot but just create some chaos around there and he is really good at that.”

The Tigers had the Bulldogs on their heels by making lots of small, detail plays that don’t show up on the stats sheet. Gleb Veremyev checked UMD’s Kyle Bettens along the boards, forcing a turnover that Laba collected and then fired in between Stejskal’s leg pads for a 4-0 lead with 5:13 left. That ended Stejskal’s night with four goals allowed on nine shots.

Laba recorded his second goal when the Rangers draft pick corralled a loose puck in the UMD zone that was forced by the CC forecheck and scored with 4:58 left in the middle period for the final margin. 

CC’s play dipped a little in the second period with the Tigers firing long passes that UMD intercepted to create some chances in transition but Mbereko handled the pressure well with any rebounds swept away by the CC defenders. Mayotte said the Tigers will need to do better on face-offs (32-29 Duluth), especially in the CC defensive zone, despite a 12-3 performance by Laba.

Mayotte wants to see the Tigers put two consistent performances together. After last Friday’s 8-0 home win over Air Force retained the Pikes Peak Trophy, CC was outplayed at Air Force the next night in a 6-3 loss.

“But you have to back it up now,” Mayotte said. “We still have another level we can get to. Our job is to find a way to get to that tomorrow. We believe in our abilities, certainly at home, We are playing well at home right now but that doesn’t have anything to do with how tomorrow will go. We need to re-commit to it, reset our standards and attack it tomorrow.

“The fans are great, man,” he added. “The student section is awesome, it gives you life, energy to know you have that support. This week was best week of practice by far, it wasn’t even close. So, we were prepared for this moment. Now we have to be prepared for tomorrow’s moment.”

Three Stars

1. Mbereko

2. Cooley

3. Laba

Ice chips

It was the first shutout by a CC freshman since Alex Leclerc on Dec. 28, 2016 (3-0 over Merrimack at the Florida College Classic in Estero). … CC has scored four goals in one period in three of its four home games. … The Mike Slade student section chanted “L. Song! L. Song!” midway through the second period when school president L. Song Richardson and Slade visited that section, posing for pictures with students. … It was CC’s first win over a ranked foe since a 4-1 home win over then-No.16 Omaha on Jan. 28 last season. …  UMD now leads the all-time series 107-85-11 with CC now 3-1-1 in their last five meetings  … The Bulldogs are now 0-3 on the road while CC is 4-0 at home and 0-5 away from Robson Arena . … UMD coach Scott Sandelin is in his 23^rd season at UMD. … The Tigers were picked to place sixth in the NCHC preseason poll and UMD third.