After a bit of a slow start on Monday, Chad Rau and his Colorado College teammates got down to some serious business.

The Tigers spotted the University of Alberta an early 2-0 lead, but powered by Rau's two goals and two assists, rallied for a 5-2 victory in their season-opening exhibition game at the World Arena.

The visiting Golden Bears, defending national champions in Canada, charged out of the gates quickly despite playing their third game in three nights. But once junior defenseman Nate Prosser got CC on the scoreboard with a power-play wrist shot through traffic at 15:20 of the first period, the pendulum began to swing in the opposite direction.

Rau set up freshman winger David Civitarese with 1:20 left in the period to tie the game, then put the Tigers ahead midway through the middle frame after stickhandling into the slot from the left faceoff circle. Rau's second goal, a shorthanded beauty set up by Scott McCulloch, put Colorado College up 4-2 at 5:36 of the third stanza.

Brian McMillin added an empty netter with 11.5 seconds remaining. Richard Bachman and Drew O'Connell split the goaltending duties, combining for 22 saves as CC finished with a 30-24 edge in shots on goal. Eric Hunter and Jesse Gimblett scored for the Golden Bears, with Ian McDonald drawing an assist on both red lighters.