Tigers’ NCAA tourney waiting game begins after Game 3 loss to Omaha in NCHC quarterfinals

By Joe Paisley

Colorado College will be back at practice on Wednesday, hoping that their hockey season isn’t over.

With a 2-1 loss to Omaha in Game 3 of their best-of-three National Collegiate Hockey Conference quarterfinal playoff series, the 21-13-3 Tigers must wait until next weekend’s league championships to find out if they make the 16-team NCAA Tournament field.

“We’re not done yet,” Tigers coach Kris Mayotte said. “Unfortunately, it’s not in our hands. We got to believe we have the opportunity to do it again. We were hoping we could take care of business tonight, punch our ticket and control our destiny.” 

The loss before an announced sellout crowd of 3,416 at Ed Robson Arena dropped the Tigers down to 14^th in the Pairwise rankings and right at the cutoff line with the 15^th and 16^th seeds earmarked for the CCHA and Atlantic Hockey playoff champions.

“There are some scenarios out there that get us into the tournament,” Mayotte said. “We’ll take Monday and Tuesday off and come back and get ready to go, start preparing on Wednesday. That is all we can do at this point.”

With the win and according to the Pairwise Probability Matrix tool, 11^th-rated Omaha is in the NCAAs for sure while 12^th-rated Western Michigan has a 99 percent chance, 13^th Massachusetts 91 percent; 14^th Colorado College, 49 percent; with Cornell, Dartmouth and St. Cloud State all needing to win league playoff titles to get an automatic qualifier.

Cornell and Dartmouth play in one ECAC semifinal while SCSU plays Denver Friday at the NCHC Frozen Face-off. Omaha plays top-seeded North Dakota in the other semi in St. Paul. CC may move up if Massachusetts loses in the Hockey East semifinals.

Mayotte was a Providence assistant in 2015 when the Friars made the tourney as a 14^th seed and won a national championship. They made it in only after Minnesota ended Michigan’s bid for the Big Ten’s automatic qualifier in the title game, leaving a spot open for PC.

Knowing that, Mayotte spent time with the team after Sunday’s loss, making sure they know the season may not be over.

“I shared with (the team) that when we won it in Providence we were in much the same situation,” Mayotte said. “We’ll start preparing on Wednesday as if we are in and we have a week and a half to prepare. I trust if we do get a chance, this team will be ready and excited and attack the opportunity.”

On Sunday, Omaha forward Brock Bremer converted a 3-on-2 breakaway by one-timing a cross-ice pass from defenseman Griffin Ludtke, who forced a CC turnover in the neutral zone to set up the rush. 

That put the 22-11-4 Mavericks ahead 2-1 with 13:21 left in the third period. It would be enough with goalie Simon Latkoczy (31 saves) anchoring a defense that collapsed down low to keep opponents out of the slot.

“You have to find a way to get open looks and against them, that’s hard,” Mayotte said. “The way they defend they always have guys around the net. They don’t vacate very much.”

CC got the start it needed when freshman Klavs Veinbergs knocked in a rebound off a Noah Laba shot for a power-play goal and 1-0 lead with 4:26 left in the first period. It was the first lead this series for the Tigers, not counting Friday’s overtime winner, but would only last 21 minutes, 46 seconds.

Omaha would tie it up at 1-1 when Jimmy Glynn lifted the puck over CC sophomore goalie Kaidan Mbereko(20 saves) with 2:40 left in the second period. The Tigers looked to have retaken the lead but Latkoczy reached behind himself and covered the puck before it crossed the line – the on-ice officials ruled – with 1:52 left to keep it tied entering the third period. UNO had a goal disallowed about five minutes earlier on an offsides call.

“They capitalize on mistakes and we didn’t make many tonight,” he added. “(Mbereko) made some big saves. It wasn’t like they scored on their only two chances but they were fairly opportunistic. We just really couldn’t get our footing back. They started taking over in the second period. It felt like we chased it a bit after that.”

Knowing that Sunday might have been the final game for the eight Tiger seniors and one graduate student, they can take pride knowing what they accomplished.

“If we don’t get a chance to do it again, they changed the program,” Mayotte said. “Not many teams get that opportunity to actually do it. There are a lot of places that talk about it and lot of teams told they have a chance. But to actually do the work that it takes to really do it, especially in this league where it is a battle every night, (we are) incredibly proud of this group.”

”We hope we get another chance because they have a legacy that I would like them to continue building because they have done such good work pushing this program forward,” he added.

Ice chips

Freshman Bret Link missed Sunday’s game with an upper-body injury sustained in Saturday’s loss. … CC is now 1-3in NCHC quarterfinal series Game 3s. The Tigers lost to North Dakota (2013-14) and Denver (2017-18) and won at Western Michigan in 2018-19 to secure the program’s first semifinals appearance. … The Tigers are now 65-93 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 20-6-3 when allowing fewer than three. … The Tigers have lost just five times in regulation in the past 22 games. … 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 30-15-7 with a 14-10-1 mark in Colorado Springs.

NCHC Quarterfinals 

Sunday Game 3s

No. 3 St. Cloud State 5, No. 6 Western Michigan 1, Huskies win series 2-1

No. 5 Omaha 2, No. 4 Colorado College 1, Mavericks win series 2-1

NCHC Frozen Faceoff

Excel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minn.

All games on CBS Sports Network

Friday semifinals

4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. CT

No. 3 St. Cloud State at No. 2 Denver

No. 5 Omaha at No. 1 North Dakota

Saturday championship

Semifinal winners, 7:30 p.m. CT

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

Familiar foe, similar styles sets stage for historic Omaha-Colorado College NCHC playoff series

By Joe Paisley

Omaha is going to look familiar to Colorado College fans, and not because the teams played each other just three weeks ago.

The fifth-seeded Mavericks are a physical team that uses in-your-face defense to create turnovers and generate transition offense with enough offensive talent to capitalize on those chances.

Omaha (20-10-4) is one of the better faceoff teams in men’s Division 1 and uses that to gain puck possession to build offensive pressure in the opposing zone or alleviate it in their own end.

Sound familiar, Tiger faithful? Those are some of the reasons this NCHC home quarterfinal playoff series for fourth-seeded CC (20-11-3) promises to be a tight one.

“They pressure pucks really well,” CC coach Kris Mayotte said “The physical attributes are much the same. Because we are similar, that is why it will be such a good battle.”

“They do a good job keeping three guys above you,” he added. “Their D corps is big, strong and mobile so you have to find a way to get inside the dots against them.”

One reason Omaha went 1-0-1 against the Tigers three weeks ago was by denying lanes to get the puck behind the Mavericks to set up the forecheck, a key to CC’s 200-foot defensive structure. As a result, UNO had CC hemmed in for five of that weekend’s seven periods (including Saturday’s overtime).

“We learned a lot from that series,” Mayotte said. “It is easier to take lessons sometimes when you lose. We didn’t have the right game plan, It’s a different game plan this weekend.”

It may be a different environment too for the first postseason games between the two teams.

The atmosphere for the first home playoff series for CC in 12 years and inaugural postseason games at Ed Robson Arena, which set a record of 3,912 (3,407 capacity) against Denver last Friday, could be electric. That would prove beneficial for the Tigers, who started taking advantage with a 11-6-2 home record this season after a 5-4-1 first half.

“Our guys have a real comfort factor with how our game plays at our rink,” Mayotte said. “It’s a place that can get really loud and that feeds how we play. We are a forechecking team. We are a hard-to-play-against team. It fits the identity of our building. We want to use that energy and apply that and play a style that makes a team feel like they have no time and space. That is crowded and things are happening fast. We have found that in the second half. Now we just have to go out and execute.”

This series also features some of the league’s best at key positions.

This weekend’s best-of-three playoff series features unanimous league first team goalie honoree and sophomore Kaidan Mbereko, a former Team USA netminder at the world junior championships, taking on former Slovakian world juniors and NCHC honorable mention sophomore goalie Simon Latkoczy.

“He’s a tremendous goalie,” Mbereko said. “He has accomplished a lot. You come here to compete against the best and that is the opportunity this weekend.”

“There’s never a dull moment in the NCHC,” he said. “You are going to get everyone’s best. It will be a good challenge for our group. Hopefully we can come out on top.”

Challenging Latkoczy will be the CC forward group, paced by leading scorer Noah Laba, a first-team NCHC honoree like Mbereko.  The NY Rangers draft pick is confident the Tigers will be ready.

“We have been playing playoff hockey here for the last 10 games or so, so not much is going to change this weekend but we have a special opportunity to secure our spot in the NCAA Tournament as well as play for the NCHC (tournament title) so we’re excited and looking forward to it,” Laba said.

The Tiger’s scoring depth, led by the now-experienced underclassmen, is paced by Laba (35 points, 19 goals), sophomores Gleb Veremyev (25, 14 goals) and Ryan Beck (20, team-high 17 assists), freshman Zaccharya Wisdom (18, 10 goals), senior captain Logan Will (18, 11 assists) and freshmen Max Burkholder (16, seven goals) and Evan Werner (16, 10 assists). Eight Tigers have at least 10 assists, the most since the 2018-19 season (eight).

Omaha has its own standout forward in all-rookie teamer Tanner Luedtke, a third-round Coyotes draft pick, who led the Mavs with 25 points (10 goals) in 34 league games, He led a strong supporting cast including graduate forward Jack Randl (24, 12 goals) and juniors Victor Mancini (plus-10 defenseman), Zach Urdahl (20, 10 goals) and Ty Mueller (24, 15 assists). That scoring depth is why Omaha enters this weekend on a 9-1-2 tear since Jan. 26, including a home sweep of NCHC regular-season champion North Dakota last weekend.

“We’re just trying to prepare the same way we have the last 2 1/2 months,” UNO coach Mike Gabinet said. “We have a lot of positivity to build on. The guys have built some confidence going into this weekend.”

The same can be said for the Tigers, who remember dropping five of six possible standings points that weekend in Omaha, making the path to home playoff ice that much more difficult.”

“Our guys are excited,’ Mayotte said “We remember how we felt leaving that place. It is still in our locker room. We are looking forward to the challenge.”

Ice chips

CC leads the nation by winning 55.6 percent of its faceoffs, led by Will’s 59.9 percent, while Omaha is at 54.7 percent, second in the NCHC and fifth in the nation. … The last time CC hosted a home playoff series was in March 2012 when the Tigers were swept by Michigan Tech at the Broadmoor World Arena in the former men’s WCHA. ,,, UNO leads the all-time series 28-14-7 with a 12-9-1 mark in Colorado Springs. … CC’s 11 home wins ties that 2011-12 team while the 9-5-1 road mark matches the nine recorded by the 2007-08 team, the last squad to have multiple first-team league honorees.

NCHC Playoffs 

Best of three series, 7 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday, 6 p.m. Sunday (if necessary)

No. 8 seed Miami (7-24-3) at No. 1 North Dakota (24-10-2)

No. 7 Minnesota Duluth (12-18-5) at No. 2 Denver (24-9-3)

No. 6 Western Michigan (20-13-1) at No. 3 St. Cloud State (15-14-5)

No. 5 Omaha (20-10-4) at No. 4 Colorado College (20-11-3)

Tigers move up to No. 16, highest ranking since Thanksgiving 2012

This past weekend’s home sweep of last-place Miami and series splits for several teams ahead of it in the USCHO.com rankings moved Colorado College up two spots to No. 16 in Monday’s national poll.

The 13-8-1 Tigers, currently fifth in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, entered the weekend at No. 18. The No. 16 ranking is the program’s best since No. 14 on Nov. 26, 2012.

An 11-year polls drought, dating back to Dec. 2012, ended last month.

This week, the NCHC is well represented with No. 4 Denver, No. 5 North Dakota, No. 12 Western Michigan and No. 15 St. Cloud State in the poll above CC, which travels to the fourth-place Broncos (15-6-1) this weekend in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Omaha led the teams receiving votes for the equivalent of No. 21 in the poll if it extended further. Air Force picked up a single vote.

The USA Hockey poll will be announced later today.

Tigers now No. 18 in both polls after league road series split at Minnesota-Duluth

Colorado College remains in the national polls at No. 18 in the USCHO.com rankings announced Monday.

Last Monday night’s 6-2 loss at now-No. 10 Minnesota and a 1-1 weekend (overtime loss, OT win) at National Collegiate Hockey Conference foe Minnesota-Duluth affected voters’ opinion of the 11-8-1 Tigers, who fifth in the league headed into this weekend’s home series against Miami.

The Tigers were ranked 17^th by USCHO last week and at No. 18 by the USA Hockey poll, which is announced later Monday. That was CC’s best USCHO ranking since No. 14 on November 19, 2012.

CC remained at No. 18 in this week’s USA Hockey poll.

The program’s national polls drought ended in mid-December 2023 after two 3-2 overtime wins at then- No. 1 North Dakota put the Tigers in at No. 20. That ended an 11-year drought dating back to Dec. 2, 2012 (19th) under former coach Scott Owens.

With Omaha moving back up into 19^th, from receiving votes, six NCHC teams are ranked, paced by No. 5 Denver, No. 6 North Dakota, No. 11 Western Michigan and league-leading No. 13 St. Cloud State. Boston University is the new No. 1 in the USCHO poll, hopping over now-No. 2 Boston College after the Eagles split a weekend series versus No. 9 Providence.

Noah Laba clinches Colorado College comeback in OT thriller over Minnesota-Duluth

By Joe Paisley

The Tigers showed a flair for the dramatic Saturday night in Duluth.

Colorado College sophomore Noah Laba scored just 1:39 into overtime to upend Minnesota-Duluth and give the 17^th-ranked Tigers a 3-2 win in Amsoil Arena. The visitors garnered three out of a possible six road points against the Bulldogs and concluded a challenging four-game road trip.

Laba stole the puck and started a 2-on-1 breakaway with Bret Link during the 3-on-3 overtime, gathering speed in transition before firing the puck past UMD goalie Zach Stejskal to end the game and give CC its only lead this weekend.

“That was a big-time release,” Tigers coach Kris Mayotte told KRDO Radio. “It was a good job by him recognizing that Duluth likes to dive to block shots so he didn’t make the crossing pass into the defender. Then he picked his corner, that’s for sure.”

“Having that defender in the middle gave me the opportunity to pull and shoot,” Laba said of the shot that went in under the cross bar.

It was the N.Y. Rangers draft pick’s second OT winner this season, all coming during a run of four-straight National Collegiate Hockey Conference games reaching OT with the Tigers prevailing three times. The win moved the Tigers (11-8-1, 5-5-0-3-1, 13 points) back into sole possession of fifth place ahead of the Bulldogs (7-10-4, 3-6-1-1-2-1, 12 points) and seventh-place Omaha (11-7-2, 4-5-1-3-0-1, 11 points), which lost at No. 4 North Dakota earlier.

Almost as dramatic was CC senior defenseman Nicklas Andrews’ goal with 0.2 seconds left in the second period that tied the game at 2-2.

The senior defenseman fired a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that found its way through traffic and past Stejskal (29 saves) and hit twine with just 0.2 seconds left to tie the game at 2-2. Andrews’ one-timer came off a pass from the corner by Gleb Veremyev with the second assist to Laba.

Saturday’s win came after Minnesota Duluth dominated the final 6:51 of the third period but CC sophomore goalie Kaidan Mbereko (17 third-period saves, 34 game) was up to the challenge. He made five saves during the Bulldogs’ only power play of the game and added four more stops, stoning Darian Gotz with 30 seconds left in regulation to force extra time.

It was arguably his finest period of the season so far, coming in his fourth start in seven days. The poised Tigers were tired mentally by the lengthy road trip, Mayotte said, and it showed with UMD keeping CC hemmed in most of that period.

“A big part of what looks like poise is when you have a goaliw who can bail you out in those situations,” Mayotte said. “We just found a way to keep the game going.”

The sixth-place Bulldogs pulled ahead 1-0 late in the first period, outshooting CC 3-0 during a Tigers power play, recording a shorthanded goal by Carter Loney.

The scoring spurt continued early in the second period with both teams scoring goals 34 seconds apart. CC’s Tyler Coffey scored off an assist by Stanley Cooley, his third point this weekend, just 2:20 into the second period to tie it at 1-1 only to see UMD’s Kyle Bettens cash in a CC turnover on the next shift for a 2-1 lead.

“I am proud of the resiliency of the team and their ability to get this one done when we weren’t very good,” Mayotte said. “The guys are ready to get back home and obviously this is a good way to end the road trip.”

Next weekend, CC hosts last-place Miami, which recorded its first league win this season, 4-2, over No. 10 Western Michigan earlier Saturday.

Ice chips

Sophomore Ryan Beck’s team-high 11^th assist Friday night gave him 14 points, already surpassing his freshman year production (13 points, 11 assists). He was one of only two Tigers freshmen (defenseman Ethan Straky) to play in every game that season.

Stanley Cooley leads Colorado College rally, but Minnesota Duluth prevails in overtime

By Joe Paisley

Colorado College mustered a commendable comeback behind the heroics of junior Stanley Cooley, who scored twice in the third period to force overtime before Minnesota Duluth leading scorer Ben Steeves finished off the 17th-ranked Tigers, 3-2.

“We got what we deserved tonight,” Tigers coach Kris Mayotte told KRDO Radio after seeing his team struggle in the second period for the second game in a row. “I liked our response. Cools with two goals was big. Getting a (standings) point after not playing our game was good. But this leaves a bitter taste.”

Steeves scored his team-leading 15^th goal this season 66 seconds into OT, ending a National Collegiate Hockey Conference series opener Friday night in Amsoil Arena that was a defensive struggle through the first two periods before Cooley went off.

The energy-line center picked up the Tigers (10-8-1, 4-5-0-2-1, 11 points) when he batted in a loose puck from his knees with 13:05 left in the third period for his first goal since Oct. 27 at Air Force. The Bulldogs (7-9-4, 3-5-1-1-1, 11 points) had pulled ahead 2-0 just a couple minutes into the third.

CC pulled sophomore goalie Kaidan Mbereko (33 saves) with 2:17 left.

Playing with an extra attacker soon paid off when the junior forward from Regina, Saskatchewan tipped in a long-range shot by Tigers senior defenseman Chase Foley from about six feet out past UMD goalie Zach Stejskal (33 saves) to tie the game at 2-2 with 1:48 left.

Omaha’s 5-4 OT win at No. 4 North Dakota puts the Bulldogs, Mavericks (11-6-2, 4-4-1-3-0, 11 points) and Tigers into a tie for fifth place well behind fourth-place Denver (16 points), which handed league-leading St. Cloud State its first NCHC loss this season. It was UND’s fourth-straight league OT loss this season.

“(Saturday night) is an opportunity for us,” Mayotte said. “We have to get back to our identity. We play really good in the first period and we think it will be easy. But they make a push because we were better in the first. We haven’t handled it well.”

“It’s not an effort issue, just our ability to make the correct decisions,” Mayotte noted, adding that has led to structural breakdowns, allowing the Gophers Monday and the Bulldogs Friday to build up speed in transition.

UMD’s Jack Smith scored the opening goal on a fluttering shot that eluded Mbereko and went in off the right post less than five minutes into the second period. Owen Gallatin scored past a screened Mbereko early in the third to pull ahead 2-0.

CC forwards Tommy Middleton, Ray Christy and Ryan Beck all picked up a point with Beck tallying his team-leading 11^th assist on the tying goal off his pass to Foley for the blast from the point.

Tigers stay at No. 20 in both national rankings

Colorado College remains in the national polls to start 2024 with the 9-6-1 Tigers remaining at No. 20 in the USCHO.com rankings by a comfortable margin over what would be No 21 Notre Dame and No 22 Omaha. CC also remained at No. 20 in the USA Hockey poll.

The Tigers garnered 88 points followed by 46 for the Irish and 28 for the Mavericks. No. 18 RIT has 137 and No. 19 Penn State, 130. CC cracked the top 20 for the first time in 11 years in mid-December.

CC plays at now-No. 10 Minnesota this Sunday and Monday (Jan. 7-8) followed by a league road trip to Minnesota Duluth Jan. 12-13. The Tigers will stay in the Twin Cities in between the two road series.

The National Collegiate Hockey Conference remains well represented with No. 4 North Dakota, No. 6 Denver, No. 11 Western Michigan, No. 14 St. Cloud State, CC and Omaha (received votes).

Colorado College Tigers ranked for first time in 11 years, enters both national polls

Sweeping then-No. 1 North Dakota in Grand Forks for the first time since Thanksgiving weekend 1993 excited the Tigers fans and apparently, some USCHO poll and USA Hockey/The Rink Live poll voters.

For the first time since Dec. 2, 2012, the 9-6-1 Tigers are ranked in the national polls, entering the rankings at No. 20, after two 3-2 overtime wins over UND last weekend.

The last time CC was ranked, it was at No. 19 in the USCHO poll when the Tigers were 8-7-1 (5-3 men’s WCHA) following a 1-1 home weekend against then-No. 7 North Dakota which included an OT loss. Those Tigers finished 18-19-5, losing in the WCHA Final Five title game to Wisconsin.

This year’s Tigers are comfortably in the USCHO poll with 96 points, ahead of Omaha and its 34 and not far behind No. 19 Penn State (105).

The last time CC was ranked in the USA Hockey poll was at No. 14 on Nov. 12, 2012. That poll only ranked the top 15 at that time.

Among the NCHC teams in the USCHO poll, North Dakota dropped from No. 1 to No. 4 while Denver slipped one spot to No. 5 after a road split at now-No. 12 Western Michigan (up one spot).

League-leading St. Cloud State is now at No. 14, moving up one spot, with CC at No. 20 and Omaha receiving votes for what would be 21^st.