It's debatable which was more exciting on Saturday at the World Arena – Colorado College's roaring start or the final seven minutes of the game.

The Tigers exploded for four first-period goals, including a pair in the opening 1:48, and held on for a wild 6-5 victory over the No. 3-ranked University of Wisconsin that snapped their four-game losing skid, earned them a split of their weekend series and vaulted them back into third place in the WCHA standings.

Freshman Andrew Hamburg and senior Brian McMillin each scored twice in the opening frame that saw CC chase Badger goaltender Scott Gudmandson, who recorded a shutout in Friday's series opener, before the contest was 15 minutes old. McMillin added an assist on Bill Sweatt's red lighter at 12:59 of the third period, which produced a 6-3 lead at the time but turned out to be the game winner.

Wisconsin made it close on tallies by Ben Street, his second of the night, with 2:08 left to play and a deflection by Michael Davies with 1.4 seconds showing on the clock.

Colorado College, 13-8-3 overall and 9-6-3 in league play, regained a one-point lead over the Badgers and St. Cloud State in the tight WCHA race, but remained four behind front-running Minnesota Duluth, which completed a sweep at Minnesota State with a 4-3 overtime victory on Saturday.   

Hamburg struck in the opening minute of a game for the third time this season, redirecting a shot by junior defenseman Ryan Lowery just 55 seconds after the opening faceoff. McMillin made it 2-0 at 1:48 after taking a pass from Tim Hall on the left side and beating Gudmandson from in close.

Wisconsin fought back when Davis set up Street for a breakaway tally at 3:10 of the wild first period, but McMillin and Hamburg clicked just nine seconds apart later in the frame to send Gudmandson to the bench in favor of fellow junior Brett Bennett. The two combined for 28 saves in the loss.

The teams traded second-period goals – by UW's Blake Geoffrion at 3:34 and CC's Tyler Johnson at 5:47 – before settling down defensively. The Badgers cut the deficit to 5-3 early in the final stanza, when Jordy Murray shelved a wrist shot past freshman net minder Joe Howe. That's the way it stayed until Sweatt picked up a loose puck in front of the Wisconsin net and beat Bennett to restore the three-goal lead with 7:01 remaining.

Howe finished with 35 saves, including 14 in each of the last two periods. Hall and freshman center Rylan Schwartz each collected a pair of assists for the Tigers.