Hunter McKown scored twice and added an assist and Ryan Beck had three assists to lead Colorado College past Alaska Anchorage, 6-2, in the season opener at Robson Arena.
 
Similar to the 5-1 exhibition victory over Air Force last Saturday, the Tigers surrendered the first goal of the game when Connor Merritt scored just 12 seconds into the second period.
 
And, just like last Saturday, CC scored the next five goals, including four in the second period, to put the game out of reach. Freshman Noah Laba scored shorthanded for the first goal of his career to even things up at 1-1 at the 6:54 mark of the middle frame. Laba took a drop pass from Stanley Cooley, moved to the center of the ice and roofed a shot from the slot past UAA goalie Joey Lamoreaux for the Tigers' first SHG since Dec. 13, 2020.
 
McKown put the Tigers ahead for good with a 5-on-3 goal at 9:59 of the period. His blast from the top of the left circle went right between Lamoreaux's legs. Cooley then notched the game-winner at 14:26. Noah Prokop dug the puck out of the corner and found Cooley all alone in front of the net. Beck recorded the first of his three helpers on the play.
 
Beck collected the primary assist on Gleb Veremyev's first career goal with 3:56 left in the second. On the power play, Beck fed Veremyev just to the left of Lamoreaux and the freshman from Sayreville, N.J., muscled the puck into the net.
 
McKown notched his second of the game, also on the power play, just 49 seconds into the third to make it 5-1. Brett Bamber scored three minutes later for UAA, then Nicklas Andrews closed the scoring with a laser from the top of the left circle midway through the final period.
 
The Tigers converted three of their four power-play opportunities, and killed off all but one of UAA's seven chances. Matt Vernon was vital in killing off the penalties and finished with 36 saves, while Lamoreaux had 30.
 
The two teams face each other on Saturday, Oct. 8, beginning at 6 p.m.