Tigers Battle No. 9 St. Cloud State
Colorado College plays its second Top 10 team this week, taking on ninth-ranked St. Cloud State on Friday, Dec. 18, at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb. The puck drops at 7:35 p.m. (CT). The game will be broadcast in Colorado Springs on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM, 1240 AM and 92.5 FM and televised live on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, Root Sports Northwest and TSN2.

Last Time Out
Patrick Cozzi and Logan Will each scored his first career goal and Dominic Basse made 17 saves to lead Colorado College to a 4-1 victory over Miami Tuesday night at Baxter Arena. The Tigers scored all four goals in the third period after the teams skated to a scoreless draw after 40 minutes. Team captain Grant Cruikshank opened the scoring with his fourth goal of the season at the 6:55 mark of the final frame. Cruikshank, who had two tallies against No. 3 Minnesota Duluth on Sunday, took a cross-ice pass from freshman Nicklas Andrews (first career point) and buried a shot from the right circle past Miami goalie Ben Kraws. Cozzi notched his first career goal at the 9:00 mark when Josiah Slavin stole the puck behind the Miami net and found Cozzi all alone in the slot for a 2-0 lead. Kraws went to the bench in favor of an extra attacker with roughly four minutes to play, and the Tigers took full advantage as Ben Copeland gathered a loose puck at center ice and scored his second of the season into the open net to make it 3-0. Basse was stellar in the net again for the Tigers, stopping 17 of the RedHawks' 18 shots. Derek Daschke averted the shutout with 2:52 remaining in the game, then Will produced his first career goal, another empty-netter with 1:32 remaining in the game.

Tigers At The "NCHC Pod"
Due to the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCHC announced the 2020-21 season will start with all eight teams playing in Omaha, Neb. With the focus on the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches, staff, and officials, the conference has intentionally attempted to limit team travel. Because of this, NCHC teams have been divided into two divisions based on geography for 2020-21 scheduling purposes: East and West. The East Division consists of Miami, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State and Western Michigan. The West Division consists of Colorado College, Denver, North Dakota and Omaha. Teams will play each of their divisional opponents six times (18 games total) and each cross-division opponent twice (8 games total).

Up Next
The Tigers have a rematch against Miami on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 8:05 p.m. (CT).

Tiger Tales
Miami's 18 shots were the fewest by a CC opponent since Air Froce had the same amount on Oct. 13, 2018 ... Grant Cruikshank and Zach Berzolla each posted a +3 against Miami ... Copeland has multiple points in consecutive games for the first time in his career ... The Tigers allowed one goal or less in back-to-back games for the first time since March 9 (defeated Denver 1-0) & 16 (defeated Western Michigan 2-1), 2019.

For the Record
Colorado College is 2-2-1 after Tuesday's victory over Miami ... St. Cloud State is 4-3-0 after dropping a 4-3 decision in overtime to North Dakota on Wednesday.   

Previous Meetings
The Tigers and St. Cloud State have met 107 times, with the Tigers holding a 50-49-8 advantage in the series. CC went 2-1-1 against the Huskies last season, sweeping SCSU in St. Cloud.

Scouting the Huskies
Nick Perbix (3g,3a) leads the Huskies in scoring with six points, followed by four players with five points. David Hrenak has started five of SCSU's seven games in net this season, posting a 3.02 goals-against average and an .897 saves percentage.  

The Coaches
Mike Haviland (Elmira College, '90) is in his seventh 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 third 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.

Cruikshank, Berzolla to Wear the "C"
Junior forward Grant Cruikshank and senior defenseman Zach Berzolla will serve as team captains in 2020-21. Cruikshank, who will be a captain for the second straight year, was the first sophomore in program history to wear the "C". Berzolla was an assistant captain in 2019-20.

Another Tough Schedule
The Tigers' 2020-21 schedule includes 22 of their 26 regular-season games against teams that are ranked in this week's USCHO.com Top 20 Poll. Colorado College also has two games scheduled against teams that received votes and 14 contests against the last four national champions (North Dakota, Denver and Minnesota Duluth (x2)).
 
14 Newcomers Join the Program
The Tigers welcome transfers Hugo Blixt (Boston University) and Brian Hawkinson (Miami University) and 12 incoming freshmen to the program. At one point last spring, the incoming class was ranked No. 2 in the country by Neutral Zone.

Robson Arena Coming October of 2021
Never in the storied 80-plus years history of Colorado College Tiger Hockey has the team played its home games on campus. Thanks to the generosity of donors, including former CC hockey player Ed Robson '54, P'79, G'11, along with the vision of former President Jill Tiefenthaler and the Board of Trustees, that will change in 2021. The Ed Robson Arena will be a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose arena with a capacity of 3,400, including bar rail and club level seating.