It felt like November playoff soccer on a warm September Friday night in Colorado Springs as No. 7 Colorado College played an NCAA Tournament-like game against No. 13 Ohio Northern, which ended in a 1-1 draw. 
 
Both the Tigers and Polar Bears are familiar with low-scoring but high-stake affairs with each other. In 2023, the two programs played each other twice, a regular season match that resulted in another 1-1 tie. They met again in the NCAA Tournament in the Sweet 16, and the Tigers secured the 1-0 win in OT to advance to the Elite Eight.
 
"That was not a third-weekend-of-the-season type of game," head coach Scott Palguta said. "That was two teams with clear identity, experienced teams that know who they are and who they will be this season. That has the look of a Sweet 16/Elite Eight game." 
 
On Friday at Stewart, it was much of the same story for the first 45 minutes. The Tigers put up seven shots (three on goal) in the first half compared to the Polar Bears' eight (four on target). CC had the game's first three shots on the net as Jack Hilliard and Wyatt Linggi rifled shots on goal in the 22nd and 23rd minutes. 
 
Junior Oliver Ramirez added another four minutes later before the Polar Bears answered with three of their own. Sophomore Goalkeeper Alex Wolter got his second career start in the net and rose to the occasion of facing the No. 13 team in the country. The New Canaan, Conn. native made two spectacular saves back-to-back. 
 
ONU's Noah Zebrak aimed at both posts in consecutive shots that appeared initially to be headed for the back of the net, but Wolter extended his entire 6'2" frame to bat the ball out of harms way. 
 
"Alex was outstanding in the first half. Those two big saves he had kept us in the game and gave us a good platform for the second half," Palguta said. 
 
Wolter's saves kept the match a 0-1 tie at the half. After the break, the stalemate continued for 37 minutes. With both teams taking shots at one another, the floodgates finally opened for the Tigers when Luke Stefanski found Remi Maher outside the box; Maher dribbled back towards the middle of the field, found a seam, and lasered the go-ahead goal into the top right corner of the net. 
 
It was Maher's second goal and Stefanski's first assist of the season. 
 
Consequently, with their backs to the wall, ONU pressured their way to the CC side of the field and tie up the game in the 86th minute with a goal from the left side of the box. 
 
Neither team could score again and had to settle for the 1-1 draw, with the anticipation of seeing each other again later in the season. 
 
"The game was played really well by both teams," Palguta said. "Just very competitive, very even, in the end a draw is probably fair. Of course we're a little disappointed to score late but concede late as well." 

Alexander Ward, Linggi and Hilliard led the team with three shots. Hilliard had a team-high two shots on goal. The Tigers outshot the Polar Bears 16-12. Wolter finished the night with a career-high five saves in net. 
 
CC will host another 2023 NCAA Tournament opponent on Saturday evening, Emory University, who won 4-1 against UT-Dallas hours earlier. 
 
Kickoff against the Eagles is set for 7:30 p.m. MT