While Colorado College got some key production from its upperclassmen, it was the freshman class that stole the show in Friday's season opener.

Rookies Doug Leaverton and William Rapuzzi scored in the opening six minutes of play, giving the Tigers early command and propelling them to an impressive 4-2 victory over Northeastern University at the World Arena.  

Goaltender Joe Howe, another newcomer to the CC roster, did his share, standing tall between the pipes while finishing with 29 saves in his collegiate debut. Nearly half (13) of his stops came in the third period.

Veteran forwards Tyler Johnson and Bill Sweatt also found the back of the net, with Johnson's red lighter midway through the middle frame winding up as the game winner. But, even on that tally, freshman winger Rylan Schwartz earned an assist, and Rapuzzi set up Sweatt's backhand rebound at 3:26 of the final stanza that gave Colorado College a 4-1 lead.

Howe got beat only a breakaway goal by Huskies sophomore Alex Tuckerman and a third-period power-play blast from the point by Garrett Vermeersch. 

Leaverton, a 6-4, 215-pound defenseman, made his presence felt early, fooling NU freshman goalie Chris Rawlings with a blistering slap shot from just outside the blue line at the 2:56 mark. Right winger Rapuzzi converted from the inner edge of the left faceoff circle at 5:54, after a nice pass from Sweatt, to up the count to 2-0 before Tuckerman took a beautiful feed from David Strathman and soloed in to score at 10:06.

Apart from giving up Vermeersch's goal with 10:43 left to play, the Tigers were excellent on the penalty kill. Northeastern came up empty on four other opportunities with the man advantage, including a crucial 5-on-3 for 35 seconds in the third period after cutting the CC lead to 4-2.

Rawlings finished with 33 saves as Colorado College out-shot the Huskies by a 37-31 margin.