Noah Laba scored twice and No. 10/12 Colorado College held off a third=period rally by 4^th-ranked Denver to beat the Pioneers, 4-3, on Senior Night at Ed Robson Arena.
 
With the victory, the Tigers (20-10-3, 14-7-2 NCHC) clinched home ice in the first round of the conference playoffs for the first time since 2012 and defeated the Pioneers for the first time in Robson Arena.
 
The game started with a bang as Jack Devine put the Pioneers (23-9-3, 14-7-2 NCHC) on the board just 17 seconds into the contest. Laba took a tripping penalty 12 seconds later, but the Tigers killed it off and Drew Montgomery sprung Laba right out of the box and the sophomore beat DU goalie Matt Davis to even the score at the 2:38 mark.
 
The game settled a bit until Gleb Veremyev took a pass from Zaccharya Wisdom and beat Davis with a backhander right in front of the net at 13:25 of the opening frame.
 
Laba notched his second of the game, and his third shorthanded goal of the season, at 9:54 of the second period. He forced a turnover at the Denver blueline, went in all alone on Davis and beat him with a backhander for a 3-1 lead.
 
Max Burkholder made it 4-1 with his third goal in the last two games. Stanley Cooley took the puck down the left side and behind the net before finding Burkholder in the slot. The freshman deposited his seventh goal of the season.
 
The Tigers had a golden opportunity to increase the lead when DU's Boston Buckberger was whistled for a five-minute boarding major with 1:52 remaining in the second, but the Pioneers killed the penalty and Riger Lorenz closed the gap to 4-2 at 13:36 of the final frame.
 
Denver pulled Davis for an extra attacker with just under four minutes to play and it paid off when Tristan Broz sent a slapshot past CC goalie Kaidan Mbereko with 1:30 to play. Davis returned to the ice then went to the bench once again for the final 1:20, but the Tigers held their ground to post the first 20-win season since winning 23 games in 2010-11.
 
Each team went 0-for-4 on the power play and CC has not allowed an extra-man goal in its last five games. Davis finished with 27 saves while Mbereko had 20.
 
Colorado College moved into a tie for third place in the NCHC standings with St. Cloud State, just one point behind Denver in the race for second.
 
CC and Denver will conclude their home-and-home series on Saturday, March 9, at Magness Arena beginning at 7:30 p.m.