In a rematch against Western Michigan, Colorado College’s good times weren’t productive and the mistakes were big and costly. The Tigers fell 5-2 on Friday night in the Omaha “pod” and are winless on the season.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys, but that’s not an excuse anymore,” senior Zach Berzolla said. “We’ve got a couple games under our belt here. We’ve got to get things going and try to get things on track.”

Late-period goals, a recurring theme of CC losses during the team’s worst times in recent years, sent the Tigers into both breaks smarting.

With his Broncos ahead 3-1, Ronnie Attard’s rebound popped into the air. He grabbed it, set it down and fed Josh Polin, who scored three seconds before CC could escape to the second period break with a reasonable deficit to make up.

“You have to do your job,” coach Mike Haviland said. “Everyone has an assignment to do and you have to do it, over and over, and be OK with it.

“Whether you score a goal at the 59-minute mark or you don’t, you’ve just got to play the right way all the time.”

The Tigers temporarily stabilized a minute into the second period when a Jordan Biro shot beat goaltender Austin Cain and stopped in the crease. It took a few seconds for Bryan Yoon to locate and get to it, then he nudged it the rest of the way to tie the game 1-1.

It was mostly Broncos (2-3-1) from there. Luke Grainger rooted around for a rebound and was rewarded. Matt Vernon (24 saves) made the stop but couldn’t corral the puck with Grainger right in front of him. The freshman scored his first career goal.

A deflected puck wound up on the stick of Josh Passolt three minutes later and the Western Michigan alternate captain made it 3-1.

The third-period goal in the final minute belonged to the Tigers (0-2-1). Freshman Jack Millar wound and fired from inside the blue line to score for the second straight game and give CC a power-play tally with 14 seconds left in regulation. The Tigers’ penalty kill surrendered two goals.

Haviland complimented the Biro-Troy Conzo-Patrick Cozzi line but called on his veterans to step up. He also said he’ll think about Vernon’s play before Colorado College takes on conference-best Minnesota Duluth (4-0-1) on Sunday.

Vernon has allowed eight goals on 38 shots the past two games.

“I think he struggled again in there. He’s fighting it a little bit right now,” Haviland said. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

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