Colorado College went toe-to-toe with fifth-ranked Western Michigan for 60 minutes Saturday night, but fell just short in a 5-4 loss at Robson Arena.
 
Jason Polin recorded a hat trick for the Broncos, while Hunter McKown scored twice and added an assist for CC. Nate Schweitzer scored and had a helper for the Tigers and Danny Weight collected his first goal as a Tiger.
 
The Broncos struck first for the second consecutive night. Polin took a pass from Ty Glover and found himself behind the Tiger defense. Polin placed a backhand past CC goalie Dominic Basse (30 saves) for a 1-0 lead just 3:05 into the contest.
 
The Tigers responded as Nate Schweitzer collected his second goal of the season at the 14:10 mark to even things up. Brian Hawkinson rushed down the left side and slid the puck in front of the net. Schweitzer swept in from the right side and took a shot that was stopped by WMU goalie Brandon Bussi (26 saves), but a WMU defender deflected the puck into the net.
 
McKown scored his team-high ninth goal of the season to give the Tigers their first lead of the weekend just 1:43 into the second period. After a shot from the point went into the left corner, McKown collected the puck and put it past Bussi just inside the far post from below the goal line.
 
Polin scored his second of the night during a five-minute power play after McKown was called for an interference major penalty, then Josh Passolt scored an unassisted goal from the point that deflected off a CC defender with 10 seconds remaining in the middle frame for a 3-2 Bronco advantage.
 
Logan Will nearly tied it up early in the third with a breakaway, but his shot rang off the crossbar. He did draw a hooking penalty, however, but the Tigers could not capitalize.
 
Danny Weight did capitalize at the 8:28 mark and tied the game at 3-3 with his first goal as a Tiger. The puck popped up from a Hawkinson pass behind the net right into the crease and Weight was there to pounce on it.
 
Polin completed his hat trick by finishing a 2-on-1 rush with Max Sasson to make it 4-3 at the 11:49 mark, but the Tigers would not fold.
 
McKown notched his second of the game at 14:10 of the final period and the game was tied once again. He took a shot from the left point that Bussi tried to stick away, but the puck popped over his shoulder and past the goal line.
 
"Hunter McKown looked like a stud today," head coach Kris Mayotte said.
 
Frank deposited the game winner with 3:26 remaining. Aidan Fulp collected a blocked shot in his own zone and found Cole Gallant behind the CC defense. Gallant drew in a couple of Tigers and he fed Frank, who had an open net.
 
"Our guys did everything we asked of them tonight," Mayotte added. "They played hard for 60 minutes right from the drop of the puck to the final horn. It is a disappointing result but I'm proud of how our guys responded."

The Broncos outshot Colorado College, 35-30, and connected on one of their three power-play opportunities. The Tigers were 0-for-4 on the power play.
 
Colorado College heads to Grand Forks, N.D., next weekend to take on 12^th-ranked North Dakota, Jan. 11-12.