Tigers Travel to No. 3 North Dakota
Colorado College opens a two-game series against 3rd-ranked North Dakota on Saturday, Jan 23 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. The puck drops at 6:07 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.

Last Time Out
Tyler Weiss scored his second goal of the game with two-tenths of a second left in overtime to lift 11th-ranked Omaha to a 3-2 victory over Colorado College Tuesday night at the Broadmoor World Arena. Weiss attempted a pass to Joey Abate on a 2-on-1 in the waning seconds of the extra frame, but the puck hit Jack Millar's stick and went right back to Weiss, who poked it past CC goalie Matt Vernon just before the horn sounded. Each team attempted three shots during the 3-on-3 overtime period, and the Tigers outshot Omaha, 36-19 for the game. Weiss opened the scoring when his pass deflected off CC defenseman Zach Berzolla's stick and the puck went in the net over Vernon's shoulder at the 5:52 mark of the second period. Berzolla helped his team even things up at 1-1 with an assist on Ben Copeland's fourth goal of the season. Copeland took a pass behind the net from Berzolla, circled to the high slot and placed a wrist shot past Omaha goalie Austin Roden at 8:26. The Tigers kept the pressure on the remainder of the period, outshooting Omaha 17-5 in the frame, but couldn't take the lead. Millar hit the crossbar at the 10-minute mark and Copeland and Josiah Slavin each had three shots in the second period. Kevin Conley scored his second goal of the series to put the Mavericks back in the lead at the 7:56 mark of the third, but CC's Logan Will evened things at 2-2 with a wrister that went top shelf with 9:43 remaining in regulation. Roden finished the game with 34 saves, while Vernon had 16.

Up Next
The Tigers and No. 3-ranked North Dakota battle again on Sunday, Jan. 24 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.  

Berzolla Named NCHC Defenseman of the Week
Zach Berzolla was named the NCHC Defenseman of the Week by the league office Wednesday. Berzolla played a big role at both ends of the ice for Colorado College in its series against No. 11 Omaha. The team co-captain scored his first goal of the season, and only the fourth of his career in 123 career games, late in the third period in Monday's series opener to bring CC within one in a 3-2 loss. The goal was also his first point of the season. He then added the lone assist on the Tigers' first goal Tuesday that tied the game at 1-1 in an eventual 3-2 overtime loss as CC picked up one point in the standings. Defensively, Berzolla blocked four shots in Monday's game and two more on Tuesday, while helping CC go 4-for-5 on the penalty kill in the series. He finished the weekend with a goal and an assist for his first two points of the season, while blocking six shots, firing four shots on goal and finishing with an even plus/minus.

Tiger Tales
Berzolla is second the country in blocked shots per game (3.14) and third in the nation with 44 blocks ... Last weekend marked the first time Berzolla notched a point in each game of a two-game series ... Freshmen Logan Will and Nicklas Andrews each posted a career-high of four shots vs. Omaha on Tuesday.

All-Time Series vs. North Dakota
Colorado College and North Dakota have played 259 times, with the Fighting Hawks holding a 163-84-11 advantage in the series. The Fighting Hawks swept CC, 3-0 and 2-1, earlier this month in Colorado Springs.

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 … Brad Berry (North Dakota, '02) is in his sixth season as head coach at UND. Berry was an assistant coach at the school for nine seasons before taking over the helm in May of 2015. He became the first person in the history of NCAA Division I men's hockey to lead his team to a national title in his first year as head coach.

For the Record
Colorado College is 3-9-2 after falling twice to Omaha earlier this week ... North Dakota is 10-3-1 after splitting a pair of games at Denver last weekend.

Scouting the Fighting Hawks
Jordan Kawaguchi leads North Dakota and the NCHC with 16 points (4g,12a), followed by Shane Pinto with 15 (5g,10a). Grant Mismash (7g,7a) and Matt Kierstad (3g,11a) each have 14. Adam Scheel has started 12 of UND's 14 games in the net this season. He has a 9-2-1 record with a 1.98 goals-against average and .923 saves percentage.  

Another Tough Schedule
The Tigers' 2020-21 schedule includes 20 of their 24 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 12 contests against the last four national champions (North Dakota, Denver and Minnesota Duluth (x2)).

Balanced Scoring
CC has 16 players with at least one point in the first 14 games. Josiah Slavin (4g,6a) and Ben Copeland (4g,6a) lead the team with 10 points apiece, followed by Grant Cruikshank with eight (6g,2a), Jack Millar with six (2g,4a) and Patrick Cozzi with five (1g,4a).

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.

On the Air
All CC games in 2020-21, home and away, will be broadcast live throughout Southern Colorado on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 and 92.5 FM and 1240 AM, featuring Ken Landau with the play-by-play. Both of this weekend's pre-game shows start 30 minutes before faceoff. The broadcasts also can be heard worldwide via the internet.

Cruikshank, Berzolla Wearing 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.

14 Newcomers Join the Program
The Tigers welcome transfers Hugo Blixt (Boston University) and Brian Hawkinson (Miami Univesity) 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.

Matthew Gleason Joins Program
Matthew Gleason, a finalist for the Minnesota Mr. Hockey Award in 2020, has been added to Colorado College's 2020-21 hockey roster. A native of St. Paul, Minn., Gleason opened the 2020-21 campaign with the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League (3g,3a in 13 games) following a stellar high school career. As a senior captain at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, Gleason tallied 78 points (36g,42a) in 27 games during the 2019-20 season and was named the Star Tribune's Metro Player of the year, joining former Tiger and 2005 Hobey Baker winner Marty Sertich on that list of recipients. Gleason tallied 225 points (123g,102) in 107 career high school games and led Cretin-Derham Hall in scoring all four years. He also played 57 games in the Upper Midwest HS Elite Hockey League and 13 games over three years in the USA Select Festival.

Tigers Opened the Season At The "NCHC Pod"
Due to the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCHC opened the 2020-21 season 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. CC arrived to the Pod late due to a postiive COVID-19 test within the program and subsequent 14-day quarantine for the entire team. The Tigers played eight games within a span of 12 days, and will make up games against St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth during the second half of the season.