Colorado College rallied from a 2-1 deficit with a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes of the second period and held on with an excellent defensive third period to defeat Omaha, 3-2, Saturday night at Baxter Arena.
 
Zach Berzolla broke a 2-2 deadlock with 45.3 seconds left in the middle frame with his third career goal and first career game winner as the Tigers moved to 3-1-1 in their last five games and into seventh place in the NCHC.
 
Berzolla took a pass from Connor Mayer, slid to the top of the right circle and fired a rocket that cleanly beat Omaha goalie Isaiah Saville on the short side for the 3-2 advantage. The goal was Berzolla's first against a team other than Western Michigan in his 106-game career.
 
Omaha's Teemu Pulkkinen opened the scoring just 1:50 into the contest when he took a pass from Josh Boyer from behind the net and sent a wrister from the slot past Matt Vernon.
 
Nick Halloran evened the score and notched CC's first goal of the weekend with 2:31 remaining in the opening frame. With the Tigers on the power play, Ben Copeland found Halloran with a dot-to-dot pass and Halloran buried a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle past Saville for his 10^th goal of the season.
 
The Mavericks regained the lead at 11:48 of the second period when Dean Stewart took a pass from Joey Abate from the corner and had an open net for a 2-1 advantage.
 
Andrew Gaus notched his third of the season to even things back up at 13:16 of the middle frame when he put home a rebound after Saville saved a shot by Jack Gates, setting up Berzolla's game winner in the final minute.
 
The Tigers kept the momentum in the third period, especially in the defensive zone. The Mavericks put just nine shots on goal in the final 20 minutes, and Berzolla kept it a 3-2 game by breaking up a 2-on-1 rush with seven minutes remaining in the game. Berzolla finished the game with a team-high four blocked shots.
 
What Head Coach Mike Haviland Said
"This was a huge win tonight. We gave up a goal early in the first, but I loved the response. I thought we were the better team the rest of the game. We battled out a hard-fought road win."
 
"We talked about taking what's given and not doing too much. We blocked a lot of shots, won the faceoffs and special teams. I am super proud of the way we responded."
 
"It was nice to see them (Gaus and Berzolla) get rewarded. Those guys aren't known for their offense but got rewarded. When those guys are chipping it, it makes for a good night."
 
"We blocked a lot of shots, especially on the PK. We did a great job controlling the circle, when you win the faceoff circle you control possession. I thought everybody played the right way and played hard."
 
Colorado College Notes
Andrew Gaus scored his first goal since Nov. 16 at St. Cloud State
Zach Berzolla scored his third career goal and first against a team other than Western Michigan
Nick Halloran had two points Saturday night and has 94 in his career
Bryan Yoon has four assists in his last four games
Chris Wilkie led all players with five shots
McKay Flanagan had a career-high three shots
Omaha's 24 shots were the second-fewest by an opponent this season (22 by St. Cloud State, 11/15)
Matt Vernon finished with 22 saves. He is 3-1-1 in his last five games
The Tigers outshot Omaha, 33-24
CC was 1-3 on the power play, Omaha was 0-2
 
Up Next
The Tigers host two-time defending national champion Minnesota Duluth, Feb. 28-29, at the Broadmoor World Arena.