Noah Laba scored two goals and added three assists and Matt Vernon posted the second shutout of his career to lead Colorado College past Air Force, 8-0, Friday night, allowing the Tigers to retain the Pikes Peak Trophy.
 
Logan Will and Hunter McKown each scored twice, while Bryan Yoon and Ryan Beck had three assists apiece as the Tigers notched the most goals in one game since defeating the Falcons, 8-1, on Oct. 30, 2021.
 
Laba became the first Colorado College player to tally five points in one game since Nov. 6, 2010, when Jaden Schwartz and Stephen Schultz each did the trick in a 9-2 victory over Denver.
 
Vernon, meanwhile, finished with 30 saves, including a couple of spectacular stops in the first period and 14 total in the third. He helped the Tigers kill all three of their penalties, while the CC power play was rolling, scoring four times in nine opportunities with a man advantage.  
 
Will opened the scoring at the 11:57 mark of the first period when he tipped in a shot in front of the net past Air Force goalie Guy Blessing. Gleb Veremyev doubled the Tiger lead with a power-play goal at 14:02 of the initial frame. Laba's shot from the doorstep went off the post and right to Veremyev, who put home his second goal of the season.
 
Air Force's Willie Reim was whistled for a 5-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct at the 5:13 mark of the second, and the Tigers capitalized as Laba took a pass from Beck and cleanly beat Blessing from the slot.
 
Ethan Straky then scored the first goal of his career at the 15:07 mark to make it 4-0. Laba had his shot saved by Blessing and Straky put a backhander in the net from the left circle. Straky assisted on Will's first goal for the first two points of his collegiate career.
 
Colorado College added four in third period to seal the deal. Laba and Will each notched his second of the game nine seconds apart early in the frame and Hunter McKown added a pair of power-play goals at the 6:06 and 10:11 marks of the final period.
 
With the Tigers' 4-for-9 performance on the power play, they are now 9-for-20 in their three home games. CC outshot Air Force, 33-30, and McKown led all players with a career-high seven.
 
The two teams will complete the home-and-home series on Saturday, Oct. 29, at the Cadet Ice Arena beginning at 7 p.m.