JAN 30, 2025 | SPORTS | By Miles Katzen
Last weekend, the Colorado College Tigers donned their black and gold jerseys and headed south to take on the No. 11 Arizona State University Sun Devils in their second and final series matchup of the 2024-2025 season.
The Tigers took both games in November, winning 4-3 and 3-1. They beat Arizona State just before the Sun Devils went on a tear, winning ten of their next 12 games, passing the Tigers and taking the lead in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).
This weekend’s matchups represent the 13th and 14th competitions between the two teams — a tiny total compared to other teams in CC’s long history, but the most ASU has played against any team in DI hockey.
Going into an away series against the NCHC’s top team, especially with the recent struggles on both sides of the ice, was a tall order for Colorado College. The Tigers had lost six of their last seven games.
On Friday night, it was more of the same for the struggling Tigers offense. Through two periods, the Sun Devils outshot the Tigers 22-14. The first period was scoreless, but the Sun Devils came out strong in the second, scoring off a rebound with just under nine minutes on the clock and following up with a shorthanded goal in the 16th minute. With just seven seconds remaining in the second, ASU scored once more to go into the third period ahead 3-0.
In the third, ASU continued firing on all cylinders, pushing in a power play goal with 15 minutes remaining. Two minutes later, Tigers head coach Kris Mayotte decided to switch goalies, pulling Hobey Baker Award nominee Kaidan Mbereko ‘26 for Carsen Musser ‘28. Freshman winger Owen Beckner saved the Tigers from being shut out with just seven minutes remaining, but that was all the team could muster, falling 4-1 in a weak showing.
Mayotte stuck with Musser for Saturday’s game, giving him the second start of his collegiate career. Game two looked to be going the same way through two periods as the night prior. ASU dominated to start the game, with their own Hobey Baker Award nominee forward Ryan Kirwan scoring once on a power play five minutes into the game and again just two minutes into the second period. CC had four power plays in the first two periods but converted none.
Twenty seconds into the third period, Noah Laba ‘26 put the Tigers on the board with a magnificent wrap-around goal, bringing CC within one. This would not hold, with ASU’s Charlie Schoen scoring twice, two and six minutes into the period, making the score 4-1 ASU. From this point on, CC caught fire.
Laba drove down the ice to score again just 10 seconds after Schoen’s second goal. A minute later, graduate student Chase McLane scored another CC goal, bringing the score back within one, at 4-3. Musser made two huge saves to keep the game close, and defender Max Burkholder ‘27squeezed in a long slapshot in the 12th minute to tie it up.
CC kept the momentum in the final ten minutes, with Gavin Lindberg centering the puck to Drew Mongomery, who put the Tigers on top with five minutes remaining. The Sun Devils pulled goalie Gibson Homer with two minutes left and kept pressure on CC for the remainder of the game. ASU looked to pay back the Tigers for a last-second game-tying goal on Nov. 8, but CC held strong to win 5-4.
The weekend was a microcosm of the team’s season, both negatively and positively. The Tigers had their least effective weekend of the season, going 0-8 on power plays and lowering their season power play efficiency percentage to 0.145 — a figure that ranks 54th in the nation. Further, the team ranks 57th nationally in Corsi for percentage, a puck possession metric, when on a power play. The team has only had 87 shots on power plays all season, ranking 54th nationally, while allowing 126 shots on a power play — 44th nationally.
This inefficiency is in stark contrast to the team at even strength. CC’s Corsi percentage at even strength ranks sixth nationally, and their 1336 shot attempts rank tenth. The team’s 54.9 corsi% this weekend is in line with their 55.1 corsi% on the season. The scoring breakdown over the weekend highlights this: at even strength, CC outscored ASU 6-5, but on power plays, they were outscored 3-0.
This trend must be corrected if CC is to right the ship in the remainder of the season, as eight of the team’s remaining ten games are against top 20 teams, including four against teams ranked in the top five.
On a positive note, the team fixed the glaring issue from their previous series against the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) penalties. Against UMD, the team had an ugly 28 penalty minutes. This weekend, CC had only eight.
“I’m not going to act like everything is fixed now,” said Mayotte after the game.
He suggested the way forward is to “continue to believe.”
“When we have that swagger, we can beat anybody. We have something good going here after that win,” said Burkholder, who scored Sunday’s game-winner.
The team sits only one point behind the University of North Dakota and national champion Denver University for fourth place in the NCHC, and with a strong weekend, could once again vault themselves into the national rankings.
The Tigers face No. 3 Western Michigan at home at Ed Robson Arena this weekend.