Colorado College Tigers vs. St. Cloud State Huskies

NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinal

Game Notes: Colorado College | St. Cloud State
Date: Friday, March 22
Time: 4:08 pm (CT)
Location: St. Paul, Minn.
Venue: Xcel Energy Center (17,954)
Radio: KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM
TV: CBS Sports Network
Live Streaming: None
Records: Colorado College 17-18-4 | St. Cloud State 29-4-3
Series: St. Cloud State leads 51-48-8
First Game: 1/23/89, SCSU won 5-2
Last Game: 2/9/19, SCSU won 5-4(ot)
Streak: SCSU - 1

Next Game
Colorado College makes its first appearance in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff this weekend in St. Paul, Minn. The Tigers will face the top seed and No. 1-ranked team in the    country, St. Cloud State, in the semifinals on Friday, March 22, beginning at 4:08 p.m (CT). The game will be broadcast in Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Region on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 and 92.5 FM, and 1240 AM, and televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.

Last Time Out
Alex Berardinelli and Trevor Gooch each scored a third-period goal and Alex Leclerc finished with 32 saves as Colorado College upset 14th-ranked Western Michigan, 3-2, Monday in the deciding third game of the NCHC quarterfinal series in Kalamazoo. With the victory, the Tigers advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff for the first time in the six-year history of the league. Berardinelli broke a 1-1 deadlock at the 5:16 mark of the final period with a blast from the right circle off assists from Westin Michaud and Ben Copeland. The Tigers were buzzing in the WMU zone and Michaud touched the puck to Berardinelli, who beat Trevor Gorsuch through his legs for his ninth goal of the season. Gooch then made it a two-goal game just two minutes later when he deflected a pass from Bryan Yoon past Gorsuch at the 7:16 mark. Gooch won a faceoff four seconds earlier and Mason Bergh sent the puck to Yoon, who put it towards Gooch as he was soaring down the slot. Austin Rueschhoff scored his second of the game with Gorsuch on the bench with 2:24 remaining to make it 3-2, but the Tigers held off the WMU rush with an extra skater for the final 2:07 of the contest. Michaud opened the scoring with a power-play goal with 3:13 remaining in the first period. He took a pass from Bergh, wheeled around the right circle then cut in front of the net and powered a shot past Gorsuch. Yoon collected an assist on the play as well. The Tigers had some good looks in the second period to extend the lead, including two by Trey Bradley about 30 seconds apart. One was saved by Gorsuch on a 3-on-1 rush, and the second rang off the post. The Broncos evened things up late in the middle period when Rueschhoff poked in a rebound after Josh Passolt was stopped by Leclerc on a wraparound attempt with 1:11 left in the frame. The Tigers held the Western Michigan power play off the board for the third consecutive game, killing all three penalties.

First Appearance at the NCHC Frozen Faceoff
Monday night's victory clinched CC's first appearance in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in the six years of the league's existence. The Tigers were the first road team to win an NCHC quarterfinal series since St. Cloud State won at Omaha in 2015.

Bergh Joins Century Club
With his goal Saturday night against WMU, Bergh became the 75th player in the history of Colorado College Hockey to join the Century Club. He is the first Tiger to join the 100-point club since Alexander Krushelnyski on Feb. 22, 2014. His two assists Monday night gave him 103 career points (43g,60a), tying Ike Scott (1956-58) and Gord Whitaker (1983-87) for 69th on the school's career scoring list.

Most Wins in Six Years
Monday night's victory was the Tigers' 17th this season, posting the most victories in one season since the 2012-13 campaign (18).

For The Record
Colorado College is 17-18-4 overall and finished the NCHC regular season with a 9-12-3 mark ... St. Cloud State is 29-4-3 overall after sweeping Miami in the first round of the NCHC playoffs at home last weekend. The Huskies finished 19-2-3-2 in conference play and have won nine straight games since a 2-2 tie with CC in St. Cloud on Feb. 8 and  currently have a 12-game unbeaten streak.

Previous Meetings
Colorado College and St. Cloud State have met 107 times, with the Huskies holding a 51-48-8 advantage in the series. SCSU swept a pair of games, 5-3 and 2-1, in Colorado Springs, while the teams tied 2-2 and St. Cloud State won 5-4 in overtime in St. Cloud. The Huskies were 17-0-1 at home this season, with the tie coming against CC.

Tiger Tales
Bradley leads the Tigers in scoring with a career-high 32 points (14g,18a), followed by Michaud with a career-high 28 (11g,17a). Bergh has 26 (7g,19a), while Yoon (3g,21a) has 24 and Gooch (11g,12a) has a career-high 23. Leclerc evened his season record at 17-17-4 record on Monday with a 2.55 GAA and .919 saves percentage.  

Scouting the Huskies
Patrick Newell leads the NCHC in scoring with 43 points (19g,24a). Robby Jackson is tied for second in the league with 38 points (17g,21a), while Blake Lizotte (14g,23a) has 37 and Jimmy Schuldt (10g,23a) has 33. David Hrenak has played in 28 games this season and sports a 22-3-2 record. He is tied for fifth in the country with 22 victories and has a 2.20 GAA and .906 saves percentage.  

The Coaches
Mike Haviland (Elmira College, '90) is in his fifth season at the helm of the Tigers. He came to Colorado College after serving one year as head coach of the Hershey Bears (AHL). Haviland was an assistant coach for the Chicago Blackhawks from 2008-12, helping the team win the Stanley Cup in 2010 … Brett Larson (Minnesota Duluth, '95) is in his first season as head coach at St. Cloud State after spending three seasons as an assistant coach at Minnesota Duluth. He also was an assistant with the Bulldogs from 2008-11 and helped Minnesota Duluth win the NCAA Division I national title in 2011 and again in 2018. He served as head coach and GM for the USHL team in Sioux City and as the associate head coach at Ohio State.

SPECIAL Teams
Since Feb. 8, covering a span of 12 games, the Tigers have the best penalty kill (95.2%) in the country, fighting off 40 of their last 42 penalties. In addition, CC is tied with Canisius for the seventh-best power-play percentage (26.3%/10-for-38) in the country during the same time frame.

Very Defensive in 17 Wins
In their 17 victories this season, the Tigers have allowed 24 goals, and have given up 79 in the other 22 games. Colorado College has allowed just 15 goals in its last nine games. In that time span, dating back to an 8-2 victory over Western Michigan on Feb. 23, Leclerc is tied for the national lead with six victories, seventh with a .948 saves percentage and 11th with a 1.69 goals-against average.

Yoon Has Been a Big Help
With his two assists on Monday night, Yoon now has 21 this season, the most helpers by a Colorado College freshman since current St. Louis Blues forward Jaden Schwartz had 30 during the 2010-11 campaign.

Balanced Scoring
The Tigers have six players with 20 points or more for the first time since 2012-13.

Third Time with Three Games
The series against Western Michigan marked the third time in the six years of the NCHC that the Tigers played a third and deciding game in the quarterfinal series. In the first year of the league (2013-14), CC went three games at North Dakota (won game two), then went the distance last season at Denver after winning the first game.  

Senior Class Scoring
Colorado College is tied for second in the NCHC and the country (St. Cloud State) with 131 points (48g,83a) scored by a senior class. The Tigers' Class of 2019 is tied for third with 83 assists and seventh with 48 goals. Mercyhurst leads the nation with 57 goals and 145 points.

History vs. No. 1
Colorado College has played 43 games against the nation's No. 1-ranked team dating back to the beginning of the USCHO.com poll prior to the 1997-98 season. The Tigers are 12-23-8 overall against top-ranked teams, including an 8-10-5 record on the road vs. No. 1. Colorado College is 2-3-1 against SCSU with the Huskies ranked No. 1, with the first four games played during the 2001-02 season and the last two earlier this season.

Bradley and Leclerc NCHC Honorable Mention; Yoon All-Rookie
Bradley and Leclerc were named honorable mention by the NCHC last week, while Yoon was selected to the All-Rookie Team by the league's head coaches. Yoon earned the most votes of any freshman defenseman in the league and is the first Tiger to earn a spot on the team since Carolina Hurricanes d-man Jaccob Slavin in 2014.

Leclerc Repeats as NCHC Goalie of the Week
After backstopping the sweep against 6th-ranked Denver to close the regular season, Leclerc was named the Bauer Goaltender of the Week by the NCHC for the second consecutive week. He saved 56 of 57 shots against the Pioneers, good for a 0.97 goals-against average and a .982 saves percentage, both tops in the league for the week. Leclerc leads the country with 1095 saves this season and is No. 5 on CC's career list with 2,980.

Four Goals ...
Copeland scored four goals on Feb. 23 against Western Michigan, the first CC player to score four times in a game since Andrew Hamburg against Air Force on Oct. 19, 2012 and the first Tiger freshman with four goals since Jay McNeill against Air Force on Nov. 11, 1992. Copeland is the second Division I player in the country to score four goals in a game this season (Arizona State's Johnny Walker on Oct. 27 vs. Omaha) and the first DI freshman to score four goals in a game since New Hampshire's Patrick Grasso on Oct. 29, 2016 vs. Merrimack. He is also the second player to score four goals in an NCHC conference game in the history of the league. Joey Benik of St. Cloud State had four goals vs. WMU on Nov. 14, 2015.

Four Assists ...
Meanwhile, Gooch gathered four assists in the same game, becoming the first CC player to collect four helpers in a game since Jaden Schwartz at Michigan Tech on Dec. 3, 2010.

Tough Schedule Again This Season
After playing 21 of its 36 games against ranked teams last season, the Tigers are at it again this year. Four of Colorado College's 15 opponents this season played in the NCAA Division I Hockey Tournament last season and 20 of CC's 36 regular-season games were against teams that are ranked in this week's USCHO's Top 20 poll, with 12 against the last three national champions (Minn. Duluth, Denver and North Dakota), the most of any team in the country. Friday's game against St. Cloud State will be CC's 15th consecutive contest against a ranked team, the longest streak in program history.

Nine Straight Road Games
With the postponement of the Jan. 18 home game against Denver, the Tigers played nine consecutive true road games between Dec. 8 and Feb. 1, marking the longest such streak in program history. CC has played eight in a row on the road several times and played 12 straight games away from home, which included four neutral site games,    during the 1965-66 season.

Michaud and Bradley Nominated for Hobey Baker Award
Michaud and Bradley are among 81 student-athletes nominated for the 2019 Hobey Baker Award. The Hobey Baker Award is presented annually to the collegiate hockey player who best demonstrates strength of character both on and off the ice, contributes to the integrity of his team and displays outstanding skills in all phases of the game. Colorado College has had two winners since the first Hobey Baker was awarded in 1981, Peter Sejna (2003) and Marty Sertich (2005).

New On-Campus Arena on the Horizon
Colorado College, in partnership with Colorado Springs' City for Champions initiative, has unveiled a proposal to build the Edward J. Robson Arena as an on-campus competition arena. The arena, with an estimated capacity of between 3,000 and 3,650 seats, would become the permanent home of CC Tiger Hockey and for the first time since the program began in 1938, the hockey team would play games on campus.

Pikes Peak Trophy and The Gold Pan Come to CC
With the 6-1 victory over Air Force on Oct. 13, Colorado College claimed the Pikes Peak Trophy for the first time, then Colorado College swept Denver on March 8-9 to close the regular season and capture The Gold Pan for the first time since 2014.

Mason Bergh a Finalist for Senior CLASS Award
Bergh has been selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2018-19 Senior CLASS Award for hockey. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.