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Only six regular-season games away from playoff time, Colorado College can't wait any longer to start racking up some more points in the WCHA standings.
The Tigers, who suddenly find themselves in the midst of a three-game (0-2-1) winless skid and have scored just 10 times in their last six outings, can reverse the pendulum this week when they take on the University of Nebraska Omaha twice at the World Arena.
Faceoff for Friday's nationally televised (
CBS College Sports) contest is 8:10 p.m. MT. The teams meet in a rematch at 7:07 p.m. Saturday.
CC, 12-9-1 in league play and 15-11-2 overall, heads into the weekend tied for fourth place with the visiting Mavericks. Both are only five points behind front-running University of Minnesota but just four or fewer ahead of four pursuers occupying spots six through nine below them. The top six earn home ice for the opening round of the WCHA playoffs starting March 9.
One of seven other programs that will join the Tigers in the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference for the 2013-14 season, Nebraska Omaha improved to 10-7-5 in the WCHA and 13-11-6 overall by tying (3-3) and winning (4-0) at upstart Michigan Tech last week.
Colorado College split with the Mavericks at Omaha's CenturyLink Center back in early November, falling by a 7-5 count in the series opener but rebounding for a 5-2 victory the next night. Senior center, team captain and Omaha native
Nick Dineen collected six points (3g,3a) in the two games. He has nine (6g,3a), including a hat trick last season, in four career appearances against UNO.
Dineen was among a significantly large group of injured CC players, including three of its top five scoring leaders, unable to play in last week's pair of losses (4-2, 4-1) at Bemidji State University. Six were out of the lineup on Friday, seven on Saturday. Several, including Dineen, are expected to return to action this week.
Tiger Bites: Senior center
David Civitarese, who is majoring in physics, has been named a recipient of the
WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award for the third consecutive season. The award was founded by faculty representatives from the league's member schools beginning with the 2005-06 season. To earn the honor, players must have completed at least one year of residency at their present institution prior to the current academic year and must also have a grade-point average of at least 3.50 on a 4.0 scale for the previous two semesters or three quarters. He also may qualify if his overall GPA is at least 3.50 for all terms at his present institution.