Five years after its last trip to Hockeytown, Colorado College picked up right where it left off. 

CC, which convincingly won the Great Lakes Invitational in 2005, took its first step toward repeating the feat on Wednesday by holding on for a 5-4 victory over Michigan State University at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena. 

The triumph vaulted the Tigers into Thursday's GLI championship game against the University of Michigan,  which defeated Michigan Tech by a 4-2 count later Wednesday in the 46-year-old tournament's other first-round encounter.

Senior forward Tyler Johnson, who skated on two lines for most of the game, scored a goal and added a pair of assists as Colorado College improved to 12-8-1 overall and avenged a 3-1 home-ice loss to the Spartans in the 2008 NCAA playoffs. 

A pair of freshman wingers – Dakota Eveland and Jeff Collett – each notched the first goal of his collegiate career. 

Johnson's 13th tally of the season, which gave the Tigers a 5-2 lead at 11:10 of the second period, proved to be the game winner when MSU rallied for a pair of unanswered goals in the third. He now has been credited with the GWG in each of the team's last four victories. 

Senior Stephen Schultz and sophomore Andrew Hamburg also struck for goals, while freshman Archie Skalbeck and sophomore Rylan Schwartz collected a pair of assists apiece.

Sophomore goaltender Joe Howe finished with 31 saves, including 13 in the third period when the Spartans out-shot CC by a 15-2 margin.

Colorado College, ranked No. 20 nationally, has won seven of its last eight outings and nine of its last 12.

Johnson, who set up Eveland's tap-in to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead just 6:36 into the contest, drew double ice time after sophomore winger William Rapuzzi left the game with an injury midway through the first period. Johnson also earned an assist when Schultz put CC ahead to stay, 2-1, at 16:16 of the opening stanza – just 72 seconds after Michigan State pulled even.

Freshman Lee Reimer had a goal and two assists for MSU.