DEC 12, 2024 | SPORTS | By Celeste Hammer
After a weekend off for Thanksgiving, the No. 10 Colorado College Tigers faced off in their first top 10 showdown of the season against the Providence College Friars on the road on Dec. 6 and 7. The Friars swept the series, beating the Tigers 4-3 on Friday and 5-1 on Saturday.
Goaltender Kaidan Mbereko ‘26 was named both the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) and Hockey Commissioners Association’s November goaltender of the month and kept the Tigers on their feet against the Friars. Mbereko finished the weekend with a .896 save percentage after serving in goal for most of the series until being pulled for the final two minutes of each game to add an extra skater to the ice.
Head coach Kris Mayotte credited Mbereko in their second game of the weekend.
“Thank goodness for Kaiden [Mbereko],” Mayotte said in a video posted to social media following the game. “He was phenomenal, especially in that first period, to give us a chance and we just couldn’t play fast enough.”
“He gives us a chance every night,” Mayotte continued. “Like I said, we didn’t have our best twenty. Mbereko gave us a chance to come out for the second period and with a nothing-nothing score with a chance to get the first one, and unfortunately, we just didn’t quite make a push”.
With their top 10 positions at stake, the games were physical and chippy, and both teams played aggressively. Both teams had five minor penalties on Friday and served 10 minutes in the box each. The following night, the Tigers totaled six penalties, while the Frairs had four.
On Friday, the Tigers came out strong for the first period, and Providence lacked energy in the starting period. Drew Montgomery ‘27 scored the game’s first goal backhanded, assisted by Bret Link ‘27 and Owen Beckner ‘28 at 11:17 in the first period. The Tigers kept the score 1-0 through the rest of the first period, even with a minor interference penalty later for fifth-year Chase McLane.
As the second period started, the Tigers started to lose the energy they came out with, and 1:57 into the second period, the Friars tied the game. Two more Friar goals were scored in the second 20 minutes of the game, ending the period 3-1. The Friars had almost double the shots on goal with 20, as opposed to the Tigers’ 11 after the second period.
In need of more goals, the Tigers returned with the same energy they started with for the final period. 2:19 into the third, McLane scored from Philippe Blais-Savoie’s ‘27 shot from the point. The Friars responded two minutes later to keep their two-goal lead. Nearing the end of the period at 13:26, Gleb Veremyev ‘26 scored, assisted by Noah Laba ‘26, but it wasn’t quite enough. The game ended 4-3 for the Friars, even as the Tigers pulled Mbereko from the net to use an extra skater.
Unable to find the back of the net, the third period became physical. The Tigers served four penalties in the period, while the Friars served two. Four seconds after Tyler Dunbar ‘27 received two minutes for interference, Friars’ player Hudson Malinosky was placed in the box for slashing. Instead of playing a 4-on-4, Montgomery retaliated, joining Dunbar briefly in the box for unsportsmanlike conduct. Halfway through the period, Brady Cleveland ‘27 served a penalty for cross-checking, and with 16.4 seconds left in the game, both Friars’ Guillaume Richard and Veremyev served the rest of the game in the box for roughing.
“I liked our start, didn’t like the middle 30, and then I liked our finish,” Mayotte said after the game. “Unfortunately, I just don’t think we handled their push very well and had some big breakdowns that dug us into a hole. I liked our response once we were there”.
Mayotte wanted the Tigers to commit to their game plan on Saturday and execute it for the full 60 minutes.
“It’s not going to be easy for 60 minutes. It’s not going to go your way for all 60 minutes,” he said. “But you still have to stick to it and continue to try and get momentum back or build momentum or keep momentum by doing what we know we’re all doing together.”
On Saturday, the Tigers lacked some of their previous energy. Mbereko kept the Tigers in the game for the first period, keeping the score at 0-0. The Friars dominated the first period, with 15 shots on goal to the Tigers’ three.
The teams returned with more energy and power in the second, and the game became more physical. The game’s first goal was scored by Providence’s Andrew Centrella at 5:34 in the second, eluding the Tigers’ defense and Mbereko. At 10:23 in the period, Gleb Veremyev charged the goaltender, serving a penalty. Defending his goalie, Friars’ Nick Poisson retaliated, earning a cross-checking penalty.
Doubling their lead, the second goal on the board was scored by the former Tigers player and captain, Logan Will, collecting a rebound from John Mustard and Taige Harding. The Friars saw the box two more times in the period, Guillaume Richard serving for kneeing, and with eight seconds left in the period, Taige Harding was called for holding, and the Tigers started the final period of the series a man up. Ty Gallagher, a graduate student, and Laba also received penalties in the second period.
The Tigers came out in the third period with a man advantage, and with 20 seconds left on the penalty, Veremyev tipped a shot from Max Burkholder ‘27 and Gallagher into the net, placing the Tigers on the board for the first time and last time in the game. However, The Friars scored two even-strength goals to make their lead 4-1.
With 46.1 seconds left, Friars’ Connor Kelly was called for cross-checking Veremyev, and Veremyev retaliated, serving a slashing penalty. Twenty seconds later, Friars’ Aleksi Kivioja scored an empty net goal, bringing the score to 1-5.
The Tigers stayed in the offensive zone, trying to get one more on the board in the final moments. With eight seconds left, Cleveland was called for unsportsmanlike conduct after the Friars attacked Tiger McLane, and the series was called. Providence swept the series. It was the first time this season that the Tigers lost both games in a series.
“We didn’t start very well. They were on their toes, and we gave up way too many chances early,” Mayotte shared following the game. “We really lost our structure without the puck, which fed their transition, and they found a way to get five [goals].”
Mayotte wants his team to learn from their losses in Rhode Island and put it behind them.
“That’s the college hockey season,” Mayotte said. “You don’t have time to feel sorry for yourself. We got a great opponent, a big rival coming into our rink. We gotta find a way to get better and get prepared.”
The Tigers will face rival and NCHC competitor Denver University for The Battle for the Gold Pan this weekend. In a home-and-home series, they will open the campaign at the Ed Robson Arena on Dec. 13 before heading to Magness Arena in Denver on Dec. 14.