Tyler Weiss broke a 4-4 tie with 47 seconds left and Martin Sundberg added an empty-netter as Omaha rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat Colorado College, 6-4, Friday night at the Broadmoor World Arena.
 
With the puck deep in the CC end, Weiss collected it behind the net, moved out front and sent a shot through the legs of CC goalie Matt Vernon for the game-winning goal.
 
The Tigers (8-12-1, 3-9-1 NCHC) came out of the gate on fire and scored three goals in the first nine minutes of the contest. Josiah Slavin opened the scoring with his fourth goal of the season at the 4:17 mark. He took a centering pass from Bryan Yoon and sent his own rebound past Omaha goalie Isaiah Saville.
 
Just over two minutes later, Chad Sasaki sent a wrist shot from the left point past a screened Saville for his first career goal, then Jack Gates scored the first shorthanded goal of his career at the 8:33 mark with a beautiful individual play. He outraced an Omaha player for a loose puck, sliced in from the right side and scored on a backhander while flying through the crease after getting tripped for a 3-0 advantage.
 
Following Gates' goal, Saville was replaced by Austin Roden, and Omaha (10-10-5, 4-6-3 NCHC) started the comeback as Joey Abate scored a shorthanded goal of his own at the 9:10 mark. Less than two minutes later, Teemu Pulkkinen scored when he poked the puck towards the crease and it caromed off Vernon's stick into the net.  
 
Omaha's Dean Stewart evened the game midway through the second period with a power-play goal, and the Mavericks kept the pressure on, but Vernon stopped Sundberg and Weiss from point-blank range late in the period to keep the game tied at 3-3. Grant Cruikshank then put the Tigers back up 4-3 with a blast from the top of the left circle on the power play with 2:48 remaining.
 
The Mavericks took advantage of a 5-minute interference call against Zach Berzolla early in the third when Zach Jordan made it 4-4 at the 3:23 mark. The teams combined for 30 shots in the third period, but neither team could capitalize until Weiss' game-winner in the final minute.
 
What Head Coach Mike Haviland Said
"The first two that go in are awful. That gives all the momentum back to them. That can't happen. We're up 3-nothing and we have guys scoring goals who haven't gotten scores and we give up two awful goals. The next thing you know its 3-2 and next thing you know its 3-3. That's the bottom line."
"We have the puck at the end and we turn it over like four times in one shift, the last shift of the game, and they score. You have the right guys, the older guys on the ice. You have to figure out a way to get that game to overtime, That should not happen that late in the game with the guys that we had on the ice. Simple as that."
 
Colorado College Notes
Chris Wilkie led all players with eight shots
Josiah Slavin tied his career high with two points
Jack Gates' shorthanded goal was the third for the Tigers this season
Grant Cruikshank has a goal in consecutive games for the second time this season
Matt Vernon finished with 28 saves
The Tigers outshot Omaha, 38-34
CC was 1-7 on the power play; Omaha was 2-4
 
Up Next
The Tigers and Omaha battle again on Saturday, Jan. 25, beginning at 4 p.m. (MT).