CC hockey win over Minnesota-Duluth gives Tigers chance to host playoff series
The stage is set for another memorable Colorado College-Denver tilt with home playoff ice on the line after the 11th-ranked Tigers defeated Minnesota-Duluth 4-1 Saturday night.
The home victory puts the fourth-place Tigers four standings points ahead of fifth-place Omaha (34 points) and in contention to host a home playoff series for the first time in 12 years (2011-12) and as a member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference entering next weekend’s home-and-home series against the Pioneers.
On Saturday, Tigers freshman Max Burkholder converted twice on the power play, including one with 3:07 left, and junior Stanley Cooley scored a highlight-reel goal for the eventual game-winner early in the second period to lift the Tigers (19-10-3, 38 points). Freshman Drew Montgomery added an empty-netter before an announced crowd of 3,600 at Ed Robson Arena.
The late goals to close out the win were heartening for the Tigers after dropping third-period leads the previous two games.
“We lost one game and we tied two games but it didn’t feel like that,” Tigers coach Kris Mayotte said. “To come out tonight and execute the way that we did and do it for 60 minutes, not only am I, but I think our team feels it again.”
Earlier Saturday, No. 5 Denver’s sweep of No. 15 St. Cloud State lifted the Pioneers into second place, leaving third-place SCSU just two points ahead of CC, which could finish anywhere from second to fifth depending on next weekend’s results.
“Tonight was big, a lot of momentum,” Burkholder said. “We will prepare this week and be ready to go.”
Cooley’s goal started when he collected a behind-the-back pass by Tommy Middleton from below the Duluth goal line. In one motion, the center reached behind himself as a UMD defender checked him and fired off a hard backhander while facing away from the net.
The shot had enough zip to beat UMD goalie Matthew Thiessen (22 saves) with 14:54 left in the second for a 2-1 lead. Senior Ray Christy collected the second assist in his 100th college game.
“To get the (penalty) kill and get a goal a couple minutes later was huge,” Mayotte said. “You need team offense this time of year and to get four goals and it not be (Noah) Laba or Gleb (Veremyev) is huge for us. That is part of what makes us a good team.”
Burkholder lifted in a power-play rebound just 2:22 into the game to open the scoring while goalie Kaidan Mbereko made 17 saves as the CC defense limited UMD to 18 shots.
Earlier Saturday, No. 3 North Dakota clinched the regular-season title by sweeping No. 12 Western Michigan, which fell to sixth after No. 18 Omaha swept last-place Miami.
University of Minnesota Duluth forward Ben Steeves (6) scores on Colorado College goaltender Kaidan Mbereko (30) in a shootout on Friday, March 1, 2024, at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo. The CC Tigers lost the game in a shootout. (Parker Seibold, The Gazette)
