Colorado College makes its second appearance at the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minn., this weekend and will face 3rd-ranked Denver in the semifinals on Friday, March 17. The game is scheduled for 3 p.m. (MT) at the Xcel Energy Center. Live stats links for Friday's game can be found on the CC Hockey schedule page at CCTigers.com.

Second Appearance at the NCHC Frozen Faceoff
The Tigers swept 7th-ranked Western Michigan at Lawson Arena last weekend to advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff for the second time in the 10 years of the league's existence. Colorado College is the only team in the NCHC to win two first-round series on the road, the other in 2019, also at Western Michigan. Last weekend's sweep was the first on the road in program history.

How To Watch / Listen
This weekend's games will be televised live on CBS Sports Network with Alex Heinert, Dave Starman and Shireen Saski on the call, and broadcast in the Colorado Springs area and Southern Colorado on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM / 95.5 FM / 1240 AM with the 'Voice of the Tigers' Ken Landau.

Last Time Out
On Friday, the Tigers scored three times within a span of 59 seconds in the third period to upset WMU, 3-1. With Western Michigan holding a 1-0 lead in the final period, Logan Will evened the score with his fifth goal of the season at the 13:36 mark with a wrist shot from the slot that cleanly beat WMU goalie Cameron Rowe. Just 40 seconds later, Tyler Coffey took a pass from Noah Laba and sent a one-timer past Rowe to take the lead and silence the Lawson Arena crowd. Shortly thereafter, Aidan Fulp was called for a kneeing penalty at the 14:30 mark, and Hunter McKown scored his nation-leading 13th power-play goal with a blast from the point. Tiger goalie Kaidan Mbereko was outstanding once again, finishing the game with 25 saves, including a couple of spectacular stops during a five-minute penalty kill in the second period after Matthew Gleason was assessed a major and a game misconduct for checking from behind. The Broncos took advantage of a tripping call against CC's Noah Prokop and opened the scoring with a power-play goal at the 14:50 mark of the first period. Ryan McAllister scored on a wrist shot from the left point that eluded a screened Mbereko ... On Saturday, Gleason scored 3:09 into overtime to lead the Tigers to their first road playoff sweep in program history with a 3-2 victory. Gleason pounced on a rebound for his fourth career game-winning goal after Rowe saved a shot from Patrick Cozzi to give the Tigers its first postseason overtime win since March 15, 2014 (3-2 at North Dakota). Will also collected an assist on the play by winning a faceoff and sending the puck to Cozzi. Mbereko posted another spectacular outing in the net for the Tigers, making 28 saves, including three in overtime. Western Michigan freshman Ryan McAllister scored first for the second straight night. Max Sasson found McAllister at the right circle and he placed a wrist shot past Mbereko at the 10:32 mark of the opening period. The Tigers struck just 14 seconds later when Stanley Cooley stole the puck in the Bronco end and found Noah Serdachny, who beat Rowe from the slot at 10:46. Noah Laba put the Tigers in the lead with his 11th goal of the season at the 7:15 ma rk of the middle frame. Laba took a pass from Hunter McKown and fired a shot from the left circle that Rowe initially saved, but the puck snuck through Rowe's legs and past the goal line. Sasson scored the only goal in the third period, collecting a rebound following a McAllister shot and placing it past Mbereko.

For The Record
Colorado College is 12-21-3 overall and finished 6-15-3 in the NCHC, good for seventh place in the league standings ... Denver is 30-8-0 overall and was 19-5-0 in league play. The Pioneers won the Penrose Cup this season.

NCHC Playoff First-Round Results
Best-of-Three Series
(8) Miami at (1) Denver (Denver won 2-0)
(7) Colorado College at (2) Western Michigan (Colorado College won 2-0)
(6) North Dakota at (3) Omaha (North Dakota won 2-1)
(5) Minnesota Duluth at (4) St. Cloud State (St. Cloud State won 2-1)

Conference Postseason History
Colorado College is 63-90 all-time in conference postseason play. The Tigers were 41-51-2 during first-round series' in the WCHA (a two-game, total-goal series was played prior to the 1987-88 season, best-of three series since), and are 6-14 in the NCHC, including a three-game series win at Western Michigan in 2019. Colorado College is the only team in the NCHC to win twice on the road in the league's first round series.

The Coaches
Kris Mayotte is in his second season at the helm of the Tigers. He came to Colorado College after serving two years as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan. Mayotte was an assistant coach for Providence College when the Friars won the NCAA Division I title in 2015. In addition, he has won a pair of gold medals and a bronze in four stints as an assistant coach with Team USA at the World Junior Championships … David Carle is in his fifth season as head coach at Denver. He led the Pioneers to the NCAA Division I title last season. Carle served as an assistant coach for the Pioneers the previous four and a half seasons following a season and a half as an assistant coach with the Green Bay Gamblers.

Previous Meetings
Colorado College and Denver have met 336 times, with the Pioneers holding a 194-121-21 advantage in the series. The Tigers have lost 11 straight games to the Pioneers and are 1-15-1 since sweeping Denver to close the 2018-19 regular season, the last time CC won the Gold Pan. The Pioneers won all four games against Colorado College this season to retain the Gold Pan. The 336 games played between CC and DU are the second most among two schools in college hockey history. Friday's game will tie the Michigan and Michigan State rivalry with 337 total games.  

Tiger Tales
Last Friday, the Tigers scored three goals in less than a minute for the first time since March 27, 1999 vs. St. Lawrence (42 seconds in a 5-2 victory) ... Hunter McKown leads the nation with 13 power-play goals and is tied for 12th overall with 20 goals ... McKown's 13 power-play goals are the most in one season by a Tiger since Brett Sterling had 17 in 2005-06 and his 20 goals are the most since Chris Wilkie had 23 in 2019-20 ... Kaidan Mbereko leads the nation among freshmen and sixth overall with a .925 save percentage, and is fourth among first-year players with a 2.36 goals-against average ... Noah Laba's 21 points (11g,10a) are the most in one season by a freshman since Bryan Yoon (26) and Ben Copeland (21) in 2018-19 ... Laba is seventh in the NCHC in faceoff pct. at 55.3% ... Bryan Yoon played in his 165th career game on Saturday at Western Michigan, good for seventh place on the all-time games played list at Colorado College ... Saturday's victory at Western Michigan was CC's first overtime win this season (1-3-3).
 
Mbereko Named to NCHC All-Rookie Team
Freshman goalie Kaidan Mbereko was named to the 2022-23 All-Rookie Team by the NCHC. Mbereko collected 36 of a possible 45 points in voting by the league's eight head coaches and media outlets. Coaches could not vote for their own student-athletes. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound product of Aspen, Colo., who was named the NCHC Goaltender of the Month in November and December, is the third Tiger to earn a spot on the NCHC All-Rookie Team, joining teammate Bryan Yoon in 2019 and current Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin in 2014. He is the first Colorado College goalie to earn a spot on a conference all-rookie team since Joe Howe in 2010 (WCHA).

Mbereko Named Second Team All-NCHC; McKown Honorable Mention
Mbereko was named to the 2022-23 All-NCHC second team and junior forward Hunter McKown an honorable mention. Mbereko collected 25 of a possible 45 points in voting by the NCHC's eight head coaches and media outlets. He also received six of the 15 first-place votes. Mbereko is the first Tiger to earn a spot on one of the top two NCHC all-conference teams since Nick Halloran was a first-team pick in 2018 and CC's first goalie since Josh Thorimbert was selected to the WCHA's third team in 2012. McKown, from San Jose, Calif., leads the Tigers in scoring with 27 points (20g,7a). McKown received one first-team vote.

Mbereko Named Finalist For Three Major NCHC Awards
Kaidan Mbereko has been named a finalist for three of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference's 11 major awards for the 2022-23 season. Mbereko, who was named to the league's all-rookie team and a second-team all-NCHC selection last week, is one of three finalists for Goaltender of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Three Stars Award. The award winners will be announced on Thursday, March 16, at the NCHC Awards Celebration in advance of the league's Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minn. For the Goaltender and Rookie awards, finalists were determined based on voting by the conference's eight head coaches and one media member from each school with the top three vote-getters (plus ties) for each award being named finalists. The Three Stars Award finalists are based on the highest point totals of 'Stars of the Game' points earned during conference games only (5 for first star, 3 for second star, 1 for third star).

Eight Future Tigers Sign National Letter of Intent
Eight future Tigers have signed a National Letter of Intent to attend and play hockey at Colorado College. Owen Beckner (Salmon Arm Silverbacks - BCHL), Philippe Blais-Savoie (Tri-City Storm - USHL), Tyler Dunbar (Lincoln Stars - USHL), Ryan Koering (Eden Prairie High School - MN), Gavin Lindberg (Waterloo Black Hawks - USHL), Carsen Musser (USNDP U17), Fisher Scott (Dubuque Fighting Saints - USHL) and Riley Stuart (Dubuque Fighting Saints - USHL) will don the black and gold in coming years.

Mbereko, Laba Played For Team USA at World Junior Championship
Freshmen Kaidan Mbereko and Noah Laba were selected to the 2023 U.S. National Junior Team and represented their country at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship in Moncton, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. The tournament began on Dec. 26 and concluded on Jan. 5. Team USA claimed a bronze medal with an 8-7 overtime victory over Sweden after falling to Canada, 6-2, in the semifinal. Mbereko appeared in two games during the tournament, including the third period and overtime frame against Sweden. Laba made his tournament debut in the bronze-medal game.

CC Lands League-High 20 Players on NCHC All-Academic Team
The NCHC announced that 20 Colorado College student-athletes were named to the league's Academic All-Conference Team for outstanding achievement in the classroom. The Tigers tied with North Dakota for the most players on the list. Overall, the league placed 117 student-athletes on the team.Earning a spot on the team this season (minimum 3.0 GPA)are graduate student Bryan Yoon; seniors Patrick Cozzi, Connor Mayer, Noah Prokop, Chad Sasaki, and Matt Vernon; juniors Nicklas Andrews, Jake Begley, Ray Christy, Tyler Coffey, Chase Foley, Matthew Gleason, Hunter McKown, Jack Millar, Danny Weight and Logan Will; and sophomores Brett Chorske, Stanley Cooley, Tommy Middleton and Nate Schweitzer. In addition, 15 Tigers were named as Distinguished Scholar-Athletes, the most of any team in the NCHC. Andrews, Begley, Chorske, Christy, Coffey, Cooley, Foley, Gleason, Middleton, Millar, Prokop, Sasaki, Schweitzer, Weight and Will were among of 62 NCHC student-athletes honored for achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better. Sasaki earned the award all four years, while Andrews, Begley, Foley and Will are on the list for the third season.