December 14, 2023 | SPORTS | By Lilly Asano
“Tigers have a chance now on the breakaway. Here comes Veremyev, Veremyev comes in. He shoots and scores! Gleb Veremyev in overtime, and the Tigers have done it again!”
Ken Landau, voice of the Tigers, erupted in elation on Saturday night as the Tigers piled onto the ice to surround Gleb Veremyev ’26. The sophomore’s breakaway goal ended the series at the 2:54 overtime mark, bringing the Tigers their first sweep of a top-ranked team in 18 years.
Colorado College traveled to Grand Forks, North Dakota, over the weekend to take on No. 1 University of North Dakota. Friday’s meeting at Ralph Engelstad Arena marked the 270th match between the teams, with North Dakota leading the series 173-84-12.
Despite being win-less in the previous four games, the recent home campaign against ranked Arizona State drew national attention to the team’s newfound energy on the ice.
“We can turn a lot of heads this weekend,” junior Danny Weight said in an interview with KRDO on Dec. 5.
Under the watch of over 11,000 attendees, North Dakota opened the weekend with a goal just over seven minutes into the first period on Friday night. Forward Dylan James broke the puck away and drove to net, placing a shot into the far post behind goalie Kaiden Mbereko ’26.
The Fighting Hawks furthered their advantage in the second period when James found open teammate Louis Jamernik V. Their fans and students roared in response, but the Tigers were just getting started.
After Nicklas Andrews ’24 and Evan Werner ’27 moved the puck off the boards at 13:40, senior Jack Millar met them beyond the right circle and fired a slapshot, putting CC on the board.
With three minutes remaining in the second period, defenseman Tyler Dunbar ’27 received a two-minute minor for holding, giving the home team their first power play of the weekend. However, just 54 seconds into Dunbar’s penalty, North Dakota’s Hunter Johannes was placed in the box for cross-checking.
The clock was racing toward the third period when CC returned to full strength. The Fighting Hawks, packed densely near the crease, gave the Tigers the outside. Freshman Max Burkholder held his own, and when Ryan Beck ’26 passed to him, Burkholder sunk the puck past goalie Ludvig Persson.
“We got down 2-nothing, which isn’t the blueprint for success, but I’m really proud of how our guys responded,” CC head coach Kris Mayotte said in response to the game’s start, via a video posted by CC Hockey on social media. “We got right back to work and, by the end of the second period, were able to get momentum back. We found our way to make it.”
Neither the Tigers nor the Fighting Hawks produced a goal in the third period, and the Tigers entered their second overtime of the season. While North Dakota took early possession, CC managed to free the puck before Noah Laba ’26 acquired it from Chase Foley ’24 behind the net.
Eyes locked on Persson across the rink and trailed by defenders, Laba stormed through the neutral zone and left circle. In just 35 seconds of overtime play, Laba silenced North Dakota and secured the first victory of the series.
However, with a second game the next night, the Tigers couldn’t celebrate quite yet.
“We wanted to let [North Dakota] know that we weren’t going to back down or be satisfied with just last night,” captain Logan Will ’24 said after Saturday’s game via a video posted by CC Hockey on social media.
In the same video, Mayotte emphasized the same mentality going into Saturday.
“Our start would be everything. We had to make sure we made a push in the first five and knew that they would make a push in the first five,” Mayotte said.
Just two minutes after the puck dropped on Saturday, Will slid the puck under Persson, and the Tigers secured the lead. With North Dakota’s ranking on the line, both teams tallied just 12 total penalty minutes, with eight belonging to the Tigers.
When Will received a penalty for hooking just over 11 minutes into Saturday’s second period, Jackson Kunz took the power play and evened the score, moving past Mbereko. The score was tied 1-1, but the tie only lasted for 10 seconds.
Dominating the faceoff, the Tigers took possession and turned their focus to the net. Will, released from the penalty box, stumbled through his defender, and brought the Tigers up to a 2-1 lead. The senior was assisted by Beck and Foley.
In similar fashion to Friday, North Dakota tied the game before the third period with a goal from Garrett Pyke. The third remained goalless, and the 60 minutes had again proven not enough for the teams to distance themselves from one another. For the second night in a row, the Tigers and Fighting Hawks would meet in overtime.
This time, forward Veremyev would find the back of the net on an unassisted breakaway. Veremyev’s backhanded goal allowed the Tigers to sweep North Dakota, their first sweep of a No. 1 team since 2005.
“Guys are excited in the locker room. We earned it,” Will said in the video postgame. “We’ve worked really hard over the last couple of weeks to come into a building like this and prove that we’re a team to be reckoned with.”
After previously being unranked, the weekend’s sweep in Grand Forks has earned the Tigers well-deserved attention throughout Division I hockey. When the NCAA released its weekly standings, Colorado College was listed as No. 20 in the nation, finding themselves ranked for the first time since 2012. North Dakota fell to No. 4.
Laba, interviewed in the video after the Tigers’ first win of the weekend, said, “We never lost belief. We peddled back hard, and I’m proud of the guys for that.”
The Tigers have multiple conference matchups scheduled for January and will spend most of the month on the road. With their recent achievements and momentum, the time off will be integral to the remaining season and the success that lies ahead.