Box Score | Highlights from NCHC.tv

A valiant third-period comeback fell just short Saturday night as Colorado College dropped a 5-3 decision to Western Michigan at Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich.
 
Trailing 4-1 midway through the final period, freshman Trey Bradley scored his second goal of the game at the 10:26 mark of the third period with a one-timer from the left circle that beat WMU goalie Lukas Hafner just seven seconds into a CC power play. Bradley posted the first multi-goal game of his career.   
 
Just over three minutes later, junior Alex Roos cut the lead to 4-3 with his first goal of the season off a wrister from the right circle that went top shelf past Hafner. 
 
The Tigers (3-15-0, 2-8-0 NCHC) kept up the pressure for the final six minutes of the game but could not get anything else past Hafner and WMU's Griffen Molino wrapped up a four-point night and seven-point weekend with an empty-net goal with 37 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
 
The Broncos (6-10-1, 4-6-0 NCHC) came out of the gates firing, putting two of their 19 first-period shots past CC goalie Tyler Marble. Molino opened the scoring with a rebound in the crease just 3:57 into the contest, then Nolan LaPorte sent a wrister from the left circle into the net at the 7:30 mark. Each player recorded an assist on the other's goal.
 
Marble kept the Tigers within reach by tying his season high with 17 saves in the first 20 minutes.
 
"They came out playing hard in the first and we made a couple of mistakes," head coach Mike Haviland said. "We settled in a bit and played better in the second then played well in the third."
 
Each team scored once in the middle frame. Bradley cut the WMU lead in half just 1:26 into the period when he collected a rebound off a shot from Teemu Kivihalme and hit the open net past Hafner. Michael Rebry made it 3-1 at the 10:12 mark with a similar play after Neal Goff sent a shot from the left point off the back board to Rebry, who found the open net from the right circle before Marble could get to the near post.
 
The Tigers had a golden opportunity near the end of the period as WMU's Frederick Tiffels was called for a five-minute checking from behind penalty after a hit on Kivihalme, who stayed down on the ice for several minutes. That produced a 5-on-3 for 49 seconds, but the Broncos killed that off, along with the rest of the five-minute penalty. After scoring two power-play goals on Friday, the Tigers could muster just the one in seven chances on Saturday.
 
Colt Conrad put the Broncos ahead 4-1 at the 6:53 mark of the third period.
 
"When we decided to raise our compete level, we started to take it to them," Haviland said. "We need to do that all the time. They are a really big hockey team, they put pucks behind you and finish every check. We need to go through the puck like they do."
 
Marble finished with 33 saves, while Hafner had 30. CC's penalty kill was strong once again, erasing all three of WMU's chances.
 
The Tigers wrap up the first half of the season next weekend with a two-game series at Alabama-Huntsville, Dec. 18-19.