Omaha clamps down in third, forces decisive Game 3 Sunday at Ed Robson Arena for Tigers

By Joe Paisley

There was no memorable Tigers rally Saturday. So, there will be a decisive Game 3 on Sunday.

Omaha converted on both its power-play chances and used a stifling defensive effort in the third period to down Colorado College, 3-1, and forced a best-of-three NCHC quarterfinal series finale at 6 p.m. Sunday at Ed Robson Arena.

Omaha never trailed after scoring a power-play goal just 3:13 into Game 2 on a snipe by Tanner Ludtke before an announced sellout crowd of 3,410.

“We didn’t handle them being a desperate hockey team well enough,” Tigers coach Kris Mayotte said. “When you are trying to eliminate a team, you cannot give them that type of life. Unfortunately, we did. I liked our response but we never got a lead.”

Colorado College controlled most of the play, hemming in the Mavericks for extended stretches and peppering Mavs goalie Simon Latkoczy with shots, but the Tigers were unable to connect on the rebounds, which were there for the taking.

The Slovakian made 31 of his 39 saves through the first 40 minutes to keep Omaha ahead, 2-1, entering the third.

“You can’t let it frustrate you,” Mayotte said. “You start squeezing it and start trying to make something out of nothing. We have to recommit to what has worked for us for two games in terms of how we get possession and how we get O-zone time.”

“I think there are a lot more positive than negative coming out of this game,” he added, noting the 32-10 shots margin and lopsided time of possession. “That has to be our focus.”

With the loss and Western Michigan’s win over third-seeded St. Cloud State, there will be two Game 3s in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference quarterfinals with Western Michigan 11^th Omaha 12th, CC 13^th and the Huskies 17^th in the most recent Pairwise rankings, which help the NCAA Selection Committee determine the 16-team field. 

All four teams need to win and advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff next weekend to bolster their chances of garnering an at-large NCAA Tournament berth. The loser would no longer be playing and likely miss out on the NCAAs.

Omaha salted the win away when it converted its second power play in as many chances when Brock Bremer fired a wrister high stick side with 12:23 remaining in the game to pull ahead, 3-1.

By then, the 21-11-4 Mavericks were forcing CC to dump the puck in and chase. Omaha kept CC from setting up in the UNO zone over the final 20 minutes and the 21-12-3 Tigers were unable to mount a comeback even with an extra attacker over the final two-plus minutes.

“We were pressing,” Mayotte said. “We had a little more time and space than we thought sometimes and we just put pucks deep. I thought (Omaha) did a good job breaking pressure and then punting pucks out into the neutral zone, making us have to retrieve and go back at it.” 

In the first period, CC senior defenseman Chase Foley scored his second goal in as many games about four minutes after the opening goal to tie it at 1-1. Assists on Foley’s third career goal went to Evan Werner who collected the puck after defenseman Max Burkholder forced a UNO turnover in the Tigers’ zone.

It was the senior defenseman’s third career goal with his first being the inaugural goal recorded at Robson Arena back in October 2021. He was happy to start finding the net, but knows Sunday’s result is the real concern.

“We have to find a way to win on Sunday, that’s our focus right now,” Foley said. “When they had that lead, they did a good job locking us down. We have to find a way to get to the net better and get more pucks on net. That has to be our focus (Sunday).”

Omaha would go ahead 2-1 when Jimmy Glynn collected a rebound, spun and fired a backhander past a screened Kaidan Mbereko (18 saves) with 3:14 left in the first for the eventual game winner.

Ice chips

The Tigers are now 65-92 all-time in postseason play. …. CC’s 21 wins are the most since the 2010-11 squad that won 23 games and made the NCAA West Regional Final in St. Louis. That was the last time CC competed in the NCAA Tournament. … The Tigers are 18-2 this season when scoring three or more goals and 20-5-3 when allowing fewer than three. … CC’s 50 shots on Friday were the most by the Tigers on one game since Nov. 20, 2009 versus Robert Morris. … Friday’s 34-shot margin was the largest since 55-15 vs. Mercyhurst on Nov. 30, 2002. … The Tigers have lost just four times in regulation in the past 21 games. … Friday’s 4-3 playoff home OT victory was the first since 4-3 over Wisconsin on March 12, 2011. …  Noah Laba has seven game-winning goals, the most by a Tiger since Brett Sterling (8) during the 2005-06 season. … Nine Tigers have recorded at least 10 assists, the most since the 2012-13 squad (9). … UNO leads the all-time series 29-15-7 with a 13-10-1 mark in Colorado Springs.

NCHC Quarterfinals 

Best of three series, Game 3, 6 p.m. Sunday (if necessary)

Friday’s scores

St. Cloud State 5, Western Michigan 2

Denver 4, Minnesota Duluth 0

North Dakota 5, Miami 1

Colorado College 4, Omaha 3 (OT)

Saturday’s scores

North Dakota 7, Miami 1; No. 1 UND advances to NCHC semifinals

No. 6 Western Michigan 6, No. 3 St. Cloud State; series tied 1-1

Denver 5, Minnesota Duluth 2; No. 2 DU advances to NCHC semifinals

No. 5 Omaha 3, No. 4 Colorado College 1; series tied 1-1

Sunday games

No. 6 Western Michigan (21-14-1) at No. 3 St. Cloud State (16-15-5), series tied 1-1

No. 5 Omaha (20-11-4) at No. 4 Colorado College (21-11-3), CC leads 1-0

‘No quit’ Tigers rally from down three goals for a 4-3 OT home win over Omaha in NCHC playoffs

By Joe Paisley

Colorado College aced its biggest test of the year and moved within one win of a return trip to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff.

The resilient Tigers scored four unanswered goals to complete a historic comeback against Omaha when sophomore Gleb Veremyev tapped in a diagonal pass from freshman Zaccharya Wisdom with 8:07 left in overtime to take Game 1, 4-3,. Game 2 of the NCHC quarterfinal series is 6 pm Saturday.

The Friday OT winner capped a rally from down 3-0 midway through the second period when Omaha seemed to pull away despite a good performance by CC (21-11-3). 

The Tigers refused to quit and overcame a superb effort by Omaha goalie Simon Latkoczy, who made 46 saves in the game, including 17 in the third period and 15 in OT.

“A lot of goals in the postseason aren’t pretty, they’re gritty,” Veremyev said. “You just want to get the puck on net and get bodies there. We know that no matter what obstacle, we got it. We have a motto: Execution Over Emotion (and another), No Quit, Be Relentless. That is what you saw tonight.”

The first playoff game ever in Ed Robson Arena lived up to expectations after Colorado College forced overtime when leading scorer Noah Laba converted a pass from Veremyev to tie the game at 3-3 with the extra attacker with just 49.1 seconds remaining.

The tying goal capped a two-goal third-period rally by the Tigers, who scored once during a pivotal five-minute major and game misconduct on Ty Mueller to get back into the contest. CC was controlling the play by that point and the momentum surge from that extended power play tilted the ice the rest of the contest.

The five-minute major came with 12:08 remaining in regulation. CC scored when Wisdom used his speed to create a power-play breakaway. He cut across the goal face for a short-range shot that left behind a rebound for Klavs Veinbergs to tap in with 10:45 left. All three goals in the third and OT were scored from within 3-5 feet of the Omaha net.

“We were playing good hockey,” CC coach Kris Mayotte said. “The (3-0) score was unfortunate, especially when they scored 21 seconds after they scored the first one.”

“Our guys took advantage of the moment,” he added. “I am really proud of our ability to handle adversity and our ability to be tough. We had 13 forwards and six D who just went to work.”

CC was unable to score again over the next 3:38 of the man advantage but that helped the fourth-seeded Tigers out shoot the fifth-seeded Mavericks 19-1 in the third period to force OT in the first postseason home contest for the program since March 2012.

Omaha built a 3-0 lead in the second period when Mueller scored on a wrister to complete a 2-on-1 breakaway and Jack Randl scored high glove side just 21 seconds later to stake the 20-11-4 Mavericks to a 2-0 lead with 14:09 left against Tigers sophomore goalie Kaidan Mbereko (12 saves). Eight minutes later, Jacob Slipec made it 3-0 with 6:35 left.

Mbereko would bounce back with a huge save 4:29 into OT on a Omaha breakaway by Zack Urdahl to set up Veremyev’s late heroics.

After Omaha went ahead 3-0 in the second period, the announced sellout crowd of 3,410 was pretty quiet, but the resilient Tigers gave their fans reason to hope when CC converted its first power play just 18 seconds into the man advantage. Defenseman Chase Foley’s rising shot beat Latkoczy high stick side just inside the right goalpost to cut the lead to 3-1 just 48 seconds later. The Slovakian netminder was probably screened by Veremyev and the goal energized the crowd, who was loud the rest of the game.

Ice chips

The win lifted CC into 10th in the Pairwise rankings, which are used by the NCAA Selection Committee to help determine the 16-team NCAA Tournament field. Omaha fell to 14th. The teams were tied at 11th entering Friday’s game. … Nationwide, all home teams (higher seeds) won the 10 Game 1s Friday, except Colgate, with lost 3-2 in 2OT to St. Lawrence. … The last CC overtime playoff win was last season when the Tigers knocked off Western Michigan. … The last home OT game before Friday’s thriller was a 4-3 loss to Michigan Tech that ended the Tigers’ 2011-12 season and was Jaden Schwartz’s final college game. He signed his NHL entry-level contract with the St. Louis Blues two days later. … UNO leads the all-time series 28-15-7 with a 12-10-1 mark in Colorado Springs.

National Collegiate Hockey Conference quarterfinals 

Best of three series, Game 2, 6 p.m. Saturday; Game 3, 6 p.m. Sunday (if necessary)

Friday’s scores

St. Cloud State 5, Western Michigan 2

Denver 4, Minnesota Duluth 0

North Dakota 5, Miami 1

Colorado College 4, Omaha 3 (OT)

Saturday games

No. 8 seed Miami (7-25-3) at No. 1 North Dakota (25-10-2), UND leads 1-0

No. 7 Minnesota Duluth (12-19-5) at No. 2 Denver (25-9-3), DU leads 1-0

No. 6 Western Michigan (20-14-1) at No. 3 St. Cloud State (16-14-5), SCSU leads 1-0

No. 5 Omaha (20-11-4) at No. 4 Colorado College (21-11-3), CC leads 1-0

Friday’s ceremony provides chance to reflect on CC program’s progress thanks to senior class

By Joe Paisley

Every team enters a season with goals. In Colorado College’s case, 20 wins and a hosting best-of-three NCHC playoff series were some they met Friday night with a 4-3 home win over No. 4 Denver.

And while the season for the 10^th-ranked Tigers continues, the nine older players leaving the program this spring can do so knowing the hurdles they overcame staying in a rebuilding program instead of fleeing via the NCAA transfer portal said much about them.

During Saturday night’s postgame ceremony, senior defenseman Nicklas Andrews said this class wanted to make sure they left the program in better shape than when he arrived.

There’s no question that graduate defenseman Connor Mayer and seniors Andrews, Jake Begley, Ray Christy, Tyler Coffey, Chase Foley, Jack Millar, Danny Weight and captain Logan Will accomplished that.

“You are so proud when it pays off,” Tigers coach Kris Mayotte said. “The toughest thing not just in sports but in life is you lose a lot. You have to give everything, and you might get nothing. That’s not easy to do. You win nine games your first year. We finished last (regular) season 0-11-2. There were a lot of opportunities to say ‘You know what? Maybe it is not in the cards here.

“Every time something came up, they got tougher and tougher and learned how to do it better and better,” he added. “They did it together and that’s the coolest thing.”

While the Tigers can reflect how far they have come later, they know the story of this season is not over with an ending that remains partly up to them.

“There have been a lot of years of work and people who came before us that made efforts to get us to this point,” Millar said recently. “To see it come to fruition is pretty incredible, but we are not done yet.”

Tigers miss on too many chances, fall 2-1 in overtime to second-place St. Cloud State Huskies

Photo courtesy Center Ice View

By Joe Paisley

This game had everything but the result Tigers fans wanted.

St. Cloud State’s Verner Miettinen scored with 12.7 seconds left in overtime and Huskies goalie Dom Basse recorded a career-high 44 saves to down the 14^th-ranked Colorado College, 2-1, Friday night.

It was a night of missed opportunities for both teams but the ones that went awry for Colorado College had the announced sellout crowd of 3,640 at Ed Robson Arena groaning as the Tigers out shot SCSU 45-24.

“We had a lot (of chances), including a 5 on 3 at the end of the game and in overtime but we weren’t able to get it,” Tigers coach Kris Mayotte said. “We had some bouncing pucks where we kind of had empty nets that just didn’t go our way. But that is hockey sometimes.”

“We talked about our Saturday game at Western (Michigan) and at that one maybe we didn’t deserve the extra point and we got it. Tonight, we probably deserved the extra point and didn’t get it.”

Two SCSU penalties in the final 36.4 seconds of the third period put the No. 16 Huskies down two men for the first 1:24 of overtime, but the Tigers were unable to capitalize.

It got even more frustrating for CC fans when Tigers sophomore Noah Laba, who has four OT game-winners this season, including two last weekend, broke free on a breakaway but fired his backhanded attempt over the Huskies net with 1:39 left to keep the Huskies alive.

They took advantage when Miettinen fired a shot past CC sophomore goalie Kaidan Mbereko’s glove attempt to win it. 

The OT loss, alongside Denver’s win over WMU Friday, dropped CC into fourth place. But the Tigers were not hanging their heads.

“I liked how we played,” Mayotte said. “I like especially that we built momentum through the second period and we stayed on it through the third period which I really liked. We have to rest up and be ready for tomorrow.”

A second-period goal by Stanley Cooley was negated by a goalie interference after a SCSU coach’s challenge with 4:33 left that would have tied it. But that sustained midgame surge by the Tigers who dominated the final 6:54 of the second period and continued to play well in the third.

“That line sparked it for us and we got to work after that,” Mayotte said.

Colorado College would break through when freshman Zaccharya Wisdom tied it with a power-play goal.

Wisdom, who plays bigger than his 175 pounds might suggest, stopped, fended off a Huskies defender and forced the puck in under Basse to tie the National Collegiate Hockey Conference series opener with a short-range tally with 11:28 remaining. It was a surprising way to tie the game, if only because CC came into the game with clicking at a paltry 10.9 percent (10 for 92) success rate with the man advantage.

Ryan Beck and Chase Foley picked up the assists, giving Beck a career-high and team-leading 12 assists.

“(Wisdom) is good in that area,” Mayotte said. “Him and (Bret) Link know how to hang out there. It was great for our power play to get one. He is consistent emotionally so I pulled him off the top line (for Evan Werner) for a couple shifts and he goes right back to work. That is a huge goal for us and big for him.”

Kyler Kupka opened the scoring for the second-place Huskies (12-8-5, 8-3-4-1-1-2 NCHC, 30 points) on the first shot of the game for the visitors, wristing a waist-high shot past a screened Mbereko for a 1-0 lead with 16:39 left in the opening period. It spoiled what had been a good start to the first period by the Tigers (15-9-1, 9-6-0-5-2-0, 24 points) which included a shot off the SCSU goal post by Werner just 23 seconds before Kupka’s tally.

The win snapped a 0-3-3 league run for the Huskies, who have not lost in Colorado Springs since Feb. 22, 2013. The loss ended CC’s five-game winning streak.

Ice chips

Entering this weekend, CC’s 15-8-1 record is its best after 24 games since the 2007-08 season (18-6 start). … Jan. 27 was the earliest CC has reached 15 wins since that season (Jan. 11, 2008). … The Tigers are 12-1 when scoring three or more goals and 14-4-1 when allowing three or less. … The underclassmen have now accounted for 49 of the team’s 73 goals, including 28 of the last 39.

Tigers shake off holiday rust against Minot State, start preparing for second-half opening road trip at No. 9 Minnesota, league foe Minnesota Duluth

By Joe Paisley

Friday night’s 7-1 exhibition victory over Minot State went about as well as Colorado College coach Kris Mayotte hoped.

The Tigers took control early, overcame some uneven play, suffered no significant injuries and got ice time for most everyone against a solid club hockey team.

“It was about the habits and getting back to it,” Mayotte said. “I thought we were OK. It’s good to play another team when they are angling and coming in to finish their hit, they are coming in to finish their hit.”

“You cannot replicate that in practice. It was good for us to get hit again, quite honestly,” he added. “That was a fun team to play against. They play hard. They play with pace. They make you earn what you get and there were stretches where we didn’t want to earn it and we didn’t.”

CC jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period with Noah Laba putting the Tigers ahead for good just 5:09 into the exhibition. Noah Serdachny lifted in a loose puck with 8:50 remaining and senior captain Logan Will scored with 7:13 left for the three-goal margin against MSU goalie Jake Anthony (31 saves).

Minot State, ranked No. 1 in the American College Hockey Association college club Division 1 hockey national poll, would battle back when Reid Arnold scored an unassisted goal early in the second period to cut into the CC lead, 3-1, against Tigers junior backup Henry Wilder.

Wilder performed well in his first extended action in a Tigers jersey, recording 15 saves in about 55 minutes. Senior Jake Begley did not face a shot on goal while he closed out the exhibition.

“There were some scramble situations that I think he managed well,” Mayotte said of Wilder, who transferred to CC this offseason after two years at Boston College. “I thought he did a good job with it.”

The Tigers upped their play after that with Tyler Coffey scoring while standing behind the MSU goal line and Laba wristing in a power-play rebound off a hard shot by Max Burkholder about two minutes later to resume control, 5-1.

CC further pulled away on goals by Zaccharya Wisdom in his return from illness and by Chase Foley in the third period.

“He’s got his jump back,” Mayotte said of Wisdom. “He got sick and it hit him pretty hard. Now we have a healthy Zacch back. That’s going to be huge for our push in the second half.”

Getting ready for a road trip at No. 9. Minnesota (Jan. 7-8) and at National Collegiate Hockey Conference foe Minnesota Duluth (Jan. 12-13) was why the exhibition was played.

“It shows us as a staff and us as a team, areas we need to focus on for the week before we get to Minnesota,” Mayotte said. “I think we will be better for it.”

Ice chips

MSU scheduled Saturday’s exhibition against Denver this summer and Mayotte contacted the Beavers, who were happy to add a second game to the road trip. … CC’s 9-6-1 record through 16 games is the program’s best since the 2011-12 season (11-5-0).  … The Tigers’ 5-1 road record is the best since the 2002-03 season (4-0-2). … The Tigers freshman and sophomores have combined for 33 of the team’s 49 goals and 76 of 126 points. Seventeen of the last 23 goals have been tallied by underclassmen. … This was the first game between the two schools. … This is the first season since 2010-11 (Michigan Tech, St. Cloud State) when CC has recorded two road league sweeps (Miami, North Dakota). … CC sophomore defenseman Nikolai Charchenko played junior hockey for the NAHL’s Minot Minotauros, which share their rink with the 17-4-0 Beavers. He posed for postgame photos with several friends from MSU after the game.

Colorado College Tigers end first half on historic note with two OT wins at No. 1 North Dakota

By Joe Paisley

Colorado College did more than shock the North Dakota fans for the second night in a row. They accomplished something done well before any of the current players were born.

CC knocked off top-ranked North Dakota 3-2 in overtime Saturday to record the program’s first sweep at North Dakota since Thanksgiving weekend 1993, 30 years ago. It was the first ever in Ralph Engelstad Arena.

It was also CC’s first sweep of a top-ranked team since 2005.

On Saturday, it was sophomore forward Gleb Veremyev, who scored on a breakaway with 2:06 left in the extra period. On Friday, Noah Laba scored 35 seconds into OT for a 3-2 victory.

The two OT wins gave CC four out of a possible six road points and kept the Tigers (9-6-1, 4-4-0-2-0, 10 points) in fifth place entering the holiday break.

Tigers senior captain Logan Will scored twice in regulation during a National Collegiate Hockey Conference game in which CC never trailed. The Tigers are now 4-1 in league road games.

“We know what we are capable of,” Will said on KRDO Radio. “We faced adversity and found a way to win, which is a huge step for us.”

CC coach Kris Mayotte praised the Tigers’ resiliency.

“I was really proud of our response,” he said. “I was really happy with our third period. We didn’t give them much (four shots) and were matter of fact about it. And then to get the goal in overtime is something special.”

A key play for CC, besides the OT game-winner, came with 6:58 left in the second period.

Will scored his second goal of the game just 10 seconds after North Dakota’s Jackson Kunz tied the game at 1-1 on a power-play redirect of a Cameron Berg shot. Will’s shot went in off Kunz’s skate past UND goalie Ludvig Persson (21 saves, .875 saves percentage) to make it 2-1.

“It was nothing heroic,” Will said. “I just found a way to get the puck in the net.”

Five minutes later, North Dakota would tie it when defenseman Garrett Pyke’s shot from just inside the CC blue line found its way past a screened Kaidan Mbereko (22 saves, .917 saves) to make it 2-2 with 1:59 left in the middle frame, setting the stage for the decisive third and overtime.

Mbereko performed well, making two big saves early in overtime before a UND turnover gave Veremyev the opportunity that snapped his six-game scoreless streak. 

In the first period, the Tigers got off to a good start with Will pouncing on a mishandled puck by UND defenseman Keaton Pehrson, who whiffed on the puck as he tried to backhand it into the corner. The rubber bounced off his skate right to Will as he skated between the faceoff circles. A quick release by Will made it 1-0 just 1:51 into the series finale.

That showed CC was ready for more than a road series split.

“Our challenge to the guys was ‘Do you want to be a team that is happy with a win or that wants to make a statement?’” Mayotte said. “That is what made (Will’s) first goal huge. For him to lead us in that way was incredible. He was our captain, for sure.”

Ryan Beck recorded two assists while Bret Link and Chase Foley added one. Stanley Cooley assisted the game-winner.

The wins send the Tigers into their holiday break on a high note after starting the season 5-0, stumbling through a 2-6-1 stretch before snapping that downturn with a historic weekend.

“Our guys can go into the break feeling good about their first half,” Mayotte said. “To be able to look at 9-6-1 and know we put in the work to earn a weekend like this in this building is truly a good (finish).”

Ice chips

It was the fourth overtime game in a row between the programs, including both games last season, with CC going 2-1-1. … UND travels to Ed Robson Arena Feb. 16-17. … Friday’s win ended the Tigers’ 15-game winless streak against UND. … CC returns to action with a home exhibition against Minot State on Dec. 29 to prepare for a four-game road trip at Big 10 Minnesota and league foe Minnesota-Duluth in January.

League-leading 20 Tigers named to NCHC all-academic team

By Joe Paisley

Twenty Colorado College players – the maximum possible for the 20 eligible Tigers – were named to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference all-academic team for recording a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average or better while having completed at least one full academic year at his current institution. Freshmen and transfers will be honored this offseason.

CC paced the league with 15 of the 62 student-athletes named as NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes for garnering a GPA of 3.5 or better. North Dakota tied CC for all-academic (3.0 or better) with 20 honorees as well.

“We are fortunate,” CC coach Kris Mayotte said. “We get great kids. We get guys who are committed to academics. I think it is a huge part of the development of a program, of people, of players.

To have 20 guys be all academic and 15 guys all over 3.5 speaks volumes to 1., the institution and the learning that goes on here and 2., the guys we have in our locker room and their commitment to that process.”

Of the 117 NCHC academic honorees, seven recorded a 4.0 GPA, including Tigers sophomore Nate Schweitzer.

Seven student-athletes became five-time NCHC Academic All-Conference honorees this season including CC graduate student Bryan Yoon.

All 20 CC players on the 2022-23 NCHC Academic All-Conference Team are listed below, with those also earning NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete recognition in bold:
Nicklas Andrews, Jake Begley, Brett Chorske, Ray Christy, Tyler Coffey, Stanley Cooley, Patrick Cozzi, Chase Foley, Matthew Gleason, Connor Mayer, Hunter McKown, Tommy Middleton, Jack Millar, Noah Prokop, Chad Sasaki, Schweitzer, Matt Vernon, Danny Weight, Logan Will and Yoon.