The No. 13/14-ranked Colorado College Tigers return to NCHC action with a weekend series, Jan. 10-11, against the Omaha Mavericks at Baxter Arena. Both contests are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. (CT). Live streaming and live stats links can be found at CCTigers.com.

How To Listen / Watch
Both games will be broadcast live 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 on NCHC.tv.   

Last Time Out
The Tigers lost a pair of games to Augustana University last weekend at Robson Arena ... On Friday, Chase McLane scored his fourth goal of the season and Kaidan Mbereko made 19 saves, but CC fell to Augustana University, 5-1. McLane, a graduate transfer playing in his 100th career game, scored the game's first goal at the 17:46 mark of the first period. Owen Beckner collected the puck following a turnover in the Augustana end and found McLane, who placed a wrist shot from the left circle past Viking goaltender Josh Kotai. The Vikings took the lead with a pair of goals in the second period, then put the game away with three more in the third. Tyler Hennen evened the score at the 5:43 mark and Hayden Hennen put Augustana ahead for good with a power-play goal at the 7:38 mark of the middle frame. Colton Friesen made it 3-1 at the 6:45 mark of the third when he put home a rebound after Mbereko saved a deflection by Simon Falk. Augustana scored twice with Mbereko on the bench, one by Payton Matsui at 18:11 and one by Easton Young at 19:53 ... On Saturday, Carsen Musser had 42 saves in his collegiate debut, but Augustana rallied with two goals in the final 10 minutes for a 3-2 victory. Kotai made 45 saves and Quinn Rudrud had a goal and an assist, including the game-tying goal midway through the final period. Noah Laba opened the scoring for CC with his second goal of the season with just 47 seconds remaining in the first period. It looked like the Tigers doubled the lead early in the second period when Beckner found the net after a scrum in front of Kotai. The officials originally called that the net was off its moorings when the puck went in, but after a review, it was determined the puck was in the net. Then, Augustana challenged the play for goaltender interference, and after a second review, the goal was disallowed. Augustana evened the score at the 17:55 mark of the second period when Brent Meerman scored. The Tigers killed a five-minute penalty early in the third period after Riley Stuart was whistled for a major penalty and game misconduct for contact to the head and, later in the frame, captain Stanley Cooley put the home team ahead 2-1 when his shot from the high slot deflected off an Augustana defender and into the net for his third goal of the season. Rudrud scored at 11:23 of the final frame, then Nace Langus notched the game winner with 1:29 remaining.

The Coaches
Kris Mayotte is in his fourth 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, and was an assistant coach for Providence College when the Friars won the NCAA Division I title in 2015. Mayotte is the reigning NCHC Coach of the Year … Mike Gabinet is in his eighth season as head coach at Omaha after serving as the team's associate head coach during the 2016-17 season. Prior to that, he was the head coach of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in 2015-16.

Highest Ranking in Nearly 13 Years
Colorado College is ranked No. 13 in this week's USCHO.com and No. 14 in the USA Hockey / The Rink Live Top 20 polls. The Tigers' No. 7 ranking on Nov. 18 marked the highest since they were ranked No. 6 on Jan. 2, 2012.  

Balanced Scoring
Eleven Tigers have at least seven points this season, led by graduate transfer Ty Gallagher, who has 13 (4g,9a). Noah Laba (2g,10a) and Max Burkholder (4g,7a) follow with 12 and 11, respectively. Klavs Veinbergs (5g,4a), Gleb Veremyev (5g,4a), Drew Montgomery (5g,4a), Owen Beckner (3g,6a) and Bret Link (2g,7a) each have nine. Veinbergs, Veremyev and Montgomery top the team with five goals each, while Laba has a team-high 10 assists.

Previous Meetings
The Tigers and Omaha have met 52 times, with the Mavericks holding a 30-15-7 advantage in the series, including a 16-5-5 mark in Omaha. The teams played twice during the regular season last year, with Omaha winning 3-0 and the teams tying, 1-1, in Omaha. The Mavericks then won the first round of the NCHC playoffs, two games to one, at Robson Arena.

Tiger Tales
12 of CC's 18 official games have been decided by one goal or less ... Klavs Veinbergs is ranked second in the NCHC in faceoff percentage (59.6%) and Gleb Veremyev is 11th in plus/minus at +9 ... Kaidan Mbereko is the seventh goaltender in program history to record 40 victories in a career ... Mbereko continues to rank No. 2 on the school's career lists for goals-against average (2.30) and save percentage (.920) ... The Tigers are 10th in the country in penalty killing (87.9%) and opponents are 2-for-22 on the power play in the last seven games ... The 92 combined shots on goal last Saturday were the most in a CC game since March 8, 1997 (136 in 1-0 4ot victory over Wisconsin; CC 76 - UW 60) and the most in a regulation game since Feb. 16, 1996 (94 in 7-2 victory over Alaska Anchorage; CC 51 - UAA 43).   
    
Mbereko Named National Co-Goaltender of the Month For November
Junior Kaidan Mbereko was named the National Co-Goaltender of the Month for November after leading the NCHC in wins during the month. Mbereko posted a 5-2-1 record in CC's eight games, allowing just 14 goals. He was fourth in the NCHC in goals-against average (1.71) and save percentage (.941). Mbereko had a season-high 41 saves vs. Arizona State on Nov. 9 and blanked St. Cloud State on Nov. 23.

Mbereko, Laba Named To Preseason All-NCHC Team
Juniors Noah Laba and Kaidan Mbereko were named to the 2024-25 National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Preseason All-Conference Team. Thirty (30) ballots were submitted by local media members from each school, as well as select national media. Laba was one of two players, joining defenseman Zeev Buium of Denver, that were named on all 30 ballots. Denver senior forward Jack Devine followed with 26 votes, while North Dakota sophomore defenseman Jake Livanavage collected 25. Mbereko received 22 votes as the team's goaltender.

Preseason All-NCHC
F: Noah Laba, Jr., Colorado College – 30 votes (unanimous)
F: Jack Devine, Sr., Denver – 26
F: Cameron Berg, Sr. North Dakota – 11
D: Zeev Buium, So., Denver – 30 (unanimous)
D: Jake Livanavage, So., North Dakota – 25
G: Kaidan Mbereko, Jr., Colorado College – 22

Tigers Picked Third in NCHC Preseason Poll
Colorado College was picked third in the 2024-25 NCHC Preseason Poll.

1.    Denver – 263 points (24 first-place votes)
2.    North Dakota – 241 (4)
3.    Colorado College – 200 (1)
4.    St. Cloud State – 149
5.    Omaha - 137
6.    Western Michigan - 127 (1)
7.    Minnesota Duluth – 115
8.     Arizona State - 80
9.    Miami - 38

Most NHL Draft Picks on Roster in Two Decades
With six of the 12 newcomers (three transfers and three freshmen) joining Noah Laba, Klavs Veinbergs and Zaccharya Wisdom as National Hockey League draft picks, the 2024-25 roster has nine players that have been drafted by the NHL. That tied for the third-most on a roster in program history. The 2003-04 and '04-05 rosters each had 10 draft picks, while there were nine on the 2002-03 roster. Last Friday against Air Force was the first time all nine were in the lineup.  

CC to Have 17 Games Televised This Season
Colorado College announced that 14 home games will be broadcast live by television partner SOCO CW during the 2024-25 season. SOCO CW is available to viewers throughout Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Southern Colorado. In addition, CBS Sports Network will televise two games nationally from Robson Arena, Jan. 17, against Minnesota Duluth and Jan. 31, against Western Michigan.