Brady Cleveland's first career goal and Kaidan Mbereko's 33 saves led Colorado College to a 3-1 victory over No. 6 Denver in the first game of the NCHC quarterfinal series Friday night at Magness Arena.
 
Cleveland broke a 1-1 tie with a shot from the point that broke the stick of a Denver defender, then found its way into the back of the net past goaltender Matt Davis with 3:43 remaining in the third period, the middle of three third-period goals for the Tigers, who posted their first win at Denver since March of 2019.
 
Denver controlled the play in the first 20 minutes, outshooting CC, 14-3. Mbereko was up to the task, however, stopping all 14 shots in a scoreless first period.
 
The Tigers turned the tables in the first half of the second period, collecting eight of the first 11 shots taken. However, Denver's Jack Devine opened the scoring at the 13:38 mark of the middle frame when he put the puck past Mbereko from the left post immediately following a faceoff.
 
Fisher Scott nearly tied it up but his wrist shot from the high slot rang off the left post with just over one minute remaining in the second period.
 
Following a pair of penalties to the Pioneers, Ty Gallagher evened the score with a one-timer from the left circle during a 5-on-3 power play. He took a pass from Zaccharya Wisdom and beat Davis for his seventh goal of the season at the 4:28 mark of the third period. Max Burkholder collected his team-high 20^th assist on the play.
 
Less than one minute later, with CC still on the power play, Mbereko stopped a breakaway attempt by Jared Wright to keep the score tied.
 
After Cleveland gave the Tigers the lead, Noah Laba scored an empty-net goal with 47 seconds remaining for the final tally.

The Tigers were 1-for-3 on the power play and held DU scoreless on four man advantage opportunities.

The two teams will battle in game two of the series on Saturday, March 15, beginning at 6 p.m.