Augustana University jumped out to a 4-1 lead midway through the second period and held on for a 4-3 victory over Colorado College Saturday night at Ed Robson Arena, handing the Tigers their first loss of the 2023-24 season.
 
With the victory, the Vikings improved to 3-2-1, while CC fell to 5-1.
 
Augustana struck first at the 4:55 mark of the first period. Jack Jensen flew down the left side and his shot was saved by CC goalie Kaidan Mbereko but the puck went right to Ryan Naumovski at the right circle and he buried it in the open net.
 
Freshman Evan Werner evened things up for the Tigers at 16:21 of the opening frame with his third goal of the season. Noah Laba kept the puck in the Viking zone and got it to Bret Link, who found Werner alone in the slot and he cleanly beat goalie Josh Kotai.
 
The Vikings regained the lead just 1:22 later with a 5-on-3 goal by Uula Ruikka, whose blast from the top of the right circle eluded Mbereko.
 
The visitors extended the lead to 4-1 with goals by Ben Troumbly and Luke Mobley in the first 13 minutes of the second period before freshman Zaccharya Wisdom took a pass from senior Jack Millar and placed a backhander from the right circle past Kotai at the 14:33 mark.
 
The Tigers came out firing in the third period and were helped by a pair of Augustana penalties 1:16 apart early in the frame, giving CC a 5-on-3 advantage for 44 seconds. Freshman Max Burkholder took full advantage of the situation, taking a pass from Ethan Straky and firing a blast from the left circle, leaving Kotai with no chance to stop it.
 
That was one of 13 shots in the final frame for the Tigers, but the only one that found the back of the net. Augustana's Owen Bohn was whistled for a 5-minute major for kneeing at the 9:42 mark of the third, but the Tigers could only get two shots on net before Burkholder took an interference penalty, wiping out the final 1:50 of the CC power play.
 
Mbereko was on the bench for the final 2:35 of the contest, but Kotai saved three shots and Ruikka blocked a pair during the final stretch.
 
The Tigers outshot Augustana, 35-25, including a 13-2 margin in the final frame. Kotai finished with 32 saves, while Mbereko had 21. Werner and Gleb Veremyev led CC with a career-high seven shots on goal apiece and Naumovski paced the Vikings with six.
 
The Tigers, still off to their best start since the 2011-12 campaign (also 5-1), opens the Battle for the Gold Pan and NCHC action next weekend against the University of Denver. Friday's game in Denver will begin at 7 p.m., while Saturday's contest at Robson Arena is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.