The University of North Dakota arrived at a sold-out World Arena on Friday with its eye on first place in the WCHA.

Colorado College's maturing crop of youngsters, particularly sophomore goaltender Joe Howe, had other ideas.

Howe matched a season high with 38 saves, backstopping the Tigers to a 4-2 victory over the Fighting Sioux in the nationally televised opener of their two-game series.

Freshman wing Alexander Krushelnsyki scored a goal and added an assist, while rookie wingers Dakota Eveland, Jeff Collett and sophomore right wing William Rapuzzi contributed solo tallies in the triumph.

With the victory, CC improved to 9-8 in conference play, as well as 15-11-1 overall, and remained tied with the University of Minnesota for sixth place in the league standings.

North Dakota, ranked No. 4 and 5 in this week's national polls, dropped to 18-8-2 overall and 13-6 in the WCHA, one point behind league-leading University of Denver, which is idle this weekend. 

Collett notched the game winner at 5:56 of the second period, giving Colorado College a 3-0 lead.  Rapuzzi struck during a power play with 2:52 left in the stanza, and the Tigers entered the final 20 minutes of play in complete control.

Eveland put CC up 1-0 just 3:19 into the contest, converting on sophomore defenseman Mike Boivin's rebound as North Dakota's first penalty of the night expired. Krushelnyski made it 2-0 at 7:55 of the opening frame, when Howe stopped all 20 UND shots he faced. 

Junior left winger Jason Gregoire finally spoiled Howe's shutout bid at 9:03 of the third period, then added a 3-on-5 shorthanded goal at 13:24 to pull the Sioux to within two.

Sophomore netminder Aaron Dell officially finished with 36 saves as North Dakota allowed a season-high 41 shots on goal, including one made by a defender after Dell was pulled in the final minute of play.

Senior forward Tyler Johnson collected a pair of assists for the Tigers. Krushelnyski and junior center David Civitarese combined to set up Collett's game-winning goal.