Colorado College travels to Kalamazoo, Mich., this weekend for the 2023 NCHC Playoffs. The Tigers, seeded seventh, will face No. 2-seed and seventh-ranked Western Michigan in a best-of-three series at Lawson Arena, beginning on Friday, March 10, at 5 p.m. (MT). Live streaming and live stats links for the game can be found on the CC Hockey schedule page at CCTigers.com.

Getting Started
This season marks the 84th year of varsity ice hockey at Colorado College and 10th season as a member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. CC was a charter member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (1951-52) for 62 seasons before joining the NCHC with seven other schools prior to the 2013-14 campaign.

How To Watch / Listen
This weekend's games will be 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, and streamed live on NCHC.tv.

Last Time Out
The Tigers lost a pair of games to No. 3 Denver last weekend to close out the regular season ... On Friday, Mike Benning and Justin Lee scored in the second period to lead the Pioneers to a 2-1 victory at Magness Arena. Following a scoreless first period, the Tigers' fourth straight game with no scoring in the opening frame, Benning opened the scoring with a power-play goal at the 7:59 mark of the middle frame. Carter Mazur couldn't gather a pass to the left of CC goalie Kaidan Mbereko and the puck went across the crease to Benning, who went top shelf for a 1-0 lead. Mbereko skated to the bench following the goal and was replaced by Matt Vernon. Mbereko, who did not return, finished the game with 15 saves. Lee doubled the lead at 9:49 of the second with a shot from the left circle that hit Vernon's pad then flipped over the goalie's shoulder into the net. The Tigers clawed back to cut the deficit in half when Hunter McKown scored his 12th power-play goal of the season, tying him for the national lead. Logan Will took a pass from Noah Laba at the side of DU goalie Matt Davis, then sent a pass across the ice to McKown, who scored from the left circle. The Pioneers outshot CC, 23-21, but the Tigers allowed just four shots in the third period. Davis, who started in place of the injured Magnus Chrona, collected 21 saves, while Vernon had six in relief duty. Each team scored once on the power play, Denver had five opportunities, compared to three for Colorado College ... On Saturday, Denver scored three times in the third period and rallied to win 4-2. The Tigers led 2-1 after the second period thanks to goals from Matthew Gleason and McKown, but the Pioneers scored twice in a span of 52 seconds midway through the final period, then added an empty net goal. Gleason opened the scoring on the power play with 1:31 remaining in the first period. Ethan Straky had his shot saved by Davis, but Gleason was there to clean up the rebound for his third goal of the season. The Pioneers evened things up at 11:44 of the second when Shai Buium scored a power-play goal of his own. Buium took a cross-ice pass from Casey Dornbach and fired a shot past Vernon from the right circle. McKown, the Tigers' leading scorer, made it 2-1 at the 15:15 mark of the middle frame with a blast from the point while a delayed penalty was being called against Denver. Tristan Lemyre scored at the 12:04 mark of the third period to tie the game at 2-2. Kyle Mayhew's shot from the right circle was saved by Vernon, but Lemyre scored on the rebound while crashing the net. Just 52 seconds later, Aidan Thompson put the Pioneers ahead after taking a pass from behind the net by Carter Mazur. Massimo Rizzo closed out the scoring with an empty-netter with 39 seconds remaining.

For The Record
Colorado College is 10-21-3 overall and finished 6-15-3 in the NCHC, good for seventh place in the league standings ... Western Michigan is 27-12-1 overall and 15-8-1 in league play. The Broncos finished second in the NCHC.

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

Up Next
The winner of this weekend's quarterfinal series will advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minn., March 17-18.

Conference Postseason History
Colorado College is 61-90 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 4-14 in the NCHC, including a three-game series win at Western Michigan in 2019. That marks CC's only first-round series win in the NCHC.

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 … Pat Ferschweiler is in his second season as head coach at Western Michigan after spending two seasons as an associate head coach with the program. Prior to rejoining the WMU staff, he spent four years as an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings.

Previous Meetings
Colorado College and Western Michigan have met 37 times, with WMU holding a 22-9-6 advantage in the series. The Broncos lead the series, 13-3-1, in Kalamazoo. WMU swept all four games against the Tigers this season and is 10-0-2 overall in the last 12 games against Colorado College, dating back to a 3-2 CC victory at Lawson Arena in the third game of the NCHC first round on March 18, 2019.

Tiger Tales
Hunter McKown is tied for the national lead with 12 power-play goals and tied for 12th overall with 19 goals ... McKown's 19 goals are the most in one season by a Tiger since Chris Wilkie had 23 in 2019-20 ... Kaidan Mbereko leads the nation among freshmen and tied for ninth overall with a .923 save percentage, and is fourth among first-year players with a 2.43 goals-against average ... The Tigers are 22nd in the country in penalty kill percentage (81.6%) ... In conference games only, CC leads the NCHC in penalty kill pct. (84.6%) ... Noah Laba's 19 points (10g,9a) are the most in one season by a freshman since Bryan Yoon (26) and Ben Copeland (21) in 2018-19 ... Laba is eighth in the NCHC in faceoff pct. at 55.2% ... Bryan Yoon played in his 163rd career game last Saturday vs. Denver, good for eighth place on the all-time games played list at Colorado College.

Mbereko Named to NCHC All-Rookie Team
Freshman goalie Kaidan Mbereko was named to the 2022-23 All-Rookie Team by the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Mbereko collected 36 of a possible 45 points in voting by the NCHC'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., appeared in 26 games this season, and started 22 of CC's 24 league contests. He leads all NCHC goalies and national freshmen netminders with a .923 save percentage in overall games played. In addition, he is second in the NCHC with a .930 save percentage, tied for second with three shutouts and third with a 2.26 goals-against average in league games only. Mbereko, 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 25 points (19g,6a). He is tied for the national lead with 12 power-play goals and his 19 overall goals is tied for 12th in the country and fifth in the NCHC. 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 on Tuesday and a second-team all-NCHC selection yesterday, 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.

McKown and Mbereko Nominated For Hobey Baker Award
Junior forward Hunter McKown and freshman goaltender Kaidan Mbereko are among 82 student-athletes nominated for the 2023 Hobey Baker Award. The Hobey Baker Award is presented annually to the collegiate hockey player who best demonstrates strength of character both on and off the ice, contributes to the integrity of his team and displays outstanding skills in all phases of the game. Consideration is given for scholastic achievement and sportsmanship. Colorado College has had two winners since the first Hobey Baker was awarded in 1981, Peter Sejna (2003) and Marty Sertich (2005). McKown, an assistant captain from San Jose, Calif., leads the Tigers so far this season with 21 points (16g,5a), while Mbereko from Aspen, Colo., was the NCHC Goaltender of the Month for November and December.

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.