With both of Colorado College's top forward lines only two-thirds intact on Friday, the third unit stepped up big-time.  

Senior center and alternate captain David Civitarese struck for his fourth goal of the season at 1:28 of overtime, lifting seventh-ranked CC to a 2-1 victory over Minnesota State University in the opener of their two-game series at the Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato, Minn.

Sophomore Jeff Collett, right wing for the Civitarese combination, also scored midway through the second period as the Tigers rode a stellar performance by Josh Thorimbert between the pipes to cllimb within a point of third place in the WCHA standings.

Colorado College improved to 10-5 overall and 8-5 in league play despite the absence of offensive guns Jaden Schwartz and Scott Winkler, who have amassed 34 points between them so far in 2011-12. The two typically man opposite wings on the team's first and second lines but are out of the country representing their respective nations – Canada and Norway – in international competitions.

So this was someone else's night to shine.

Sophomore netminder Thorimbert, who lost his bid for a shutout with less than five minutes left in regulation, finished with 37 saves while bumping his season record to 5-1.

The contest remained scoreless, with Thorimbert and MSU's Austin Lee locked in a goaltending duel, until Collett pounced on sophomore left wing Dakota Eveland's feed from behind the net and sailed a shot past Lee at 12:51 of the middle frame.

Freshman defenseman Peter Stoykewych earned the second assist on Collett's fourth tally of the season for his first point as a Tiger.

Minnesota State freshman Matt Leitner forced the extra session when his floater from the right side found its way through traffic and past a screened Thorimbert at 15:26 of the third period.

Leitner took a disputed tripping penalty – one of just five infractions whistled in the game – with 54 ticks left on the clock, but CC was unable to cash in on its second power play of the night.

However, moments after Leitner returned to the ice at 1:06 of overtime, Civitarese won a faceoff in the Minnesota State end. He retrieved the puck after Lee steered a Tiger attempt into the corner, skated into the slot and beat the senior goalie with a wrist shot from between the two circles to give Colorado College essentially its third sudden-death triumph in as many weeks.

CC defeated archrival University of Denver, 4-3 in overtime, on Friday, Dec. 2, then scored with 2.8 seconds left in the third period to stun Alaska Anchorage by the same score on Saturday, Dec. 10. 

The hard-luck Mavericks, who saw a modest two-game winning streak come to an end, dropped to 5-13-1 overall and 2-10-1 in the WCHA. The teams meet again in the series finale at 7:07 p.m. CT Saturday.