The No. 16 Colorado College Tigers traveled to Marquette, Mich., for a series campaign against the Northern Michigan University (NMU) Wildcats on Oct. 17 and 18.
While the Tigers beat the Wildcats 2-1 in overtime on Friday, Oct. 17, they dominated their former Western Collegiate Hockey Association rivals the next night, winning 5-2 to conclude the series. The Tigers left Michigan with a 5-1 season record, while NMU fell to 0-6.
On Monday, Oct. 20, the Tigers moved up three spots in the USCHO weekly poll to No. 16, their highest ranking since they fell from No. 13 to No. 18 after National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) opponent University of Nebraska Omaha swept the Tigers on Jan. 10 and 11.
“I loved the push we made, again, I didn’t think there was any panic in our game,” said Tigers head coach Kris Mayotte following Friday’s game. “It got more structured, it got a little faster, and had some conviction to it.”
Defenseman Seth Constance ‘28 helped lead the Tigers to victory, tallying two assists and his first career goal. Constance, who transferred from Northeastern University this year, was named the NCHC Defenseman of the Week on Tuesday, Oct. 21.
They entered the weekend ranking No. 19 in USCHO.com polls, returning to the national rankings for the first time since March 3.
The Wildcats opened the scoring on Friday night at 11:15 in the first period. NMU’s Medrick Bolduc found the back of the net for his second goal of the season, assisted by Jakub Altrichter. Despite multiple power play opportunities, the Tigers trailed the Wildcats for the remainder of the first period, and neither team found the scoreboard in the second.
Klavs Veinbergs ‘27 put CC on the board with 9:25 remaining in the third period, ultimately sending the game into overtime. Veinbergs, a 2022 NHL Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick, was assisted by Constance and Ryan Koering ‘28.
“They entered with speed, and that was something that we started to figure out as the game went on,” Mayotte said on Veinbergs’ goal. “Klavs makes a great play when he’s driving wide, cuts to the middle, and rips a forehand. That’s a big-time goal to get that tied up.”
With just two minutes remaining in overtime, goaltender Kaidan Mbereko ‘26 blocked an NMU shot on goal and passed the puck to Koering behind the net. The game was down to eight players on the ice, three skaters and a goaltender for each team, as Koering skated down the left side of the rink. Koering found an opening above rookie goaltender Oliver Auyeung-Ashton, snapping a wrist shot into the back of the net, bringing the final score to 2-1.
“He goes coast-to-coast, and the sophomore gives the Tigers a 2-1 overtime victory,” Ken Landau, longtime broadcaster of the CC Tigers, called over the broadcast stream. “Koering gets the game winner!”
Koering was named first star of the night, and both Veinbergs and Mbereko received an assist point for the goal. The assist is Mbereko’s first career point after playing 104 games at Colorado College.
The Tigers returned to Berry Event Center the following night and dominated all three periods. Both teams collected four penalties each on Saturday, with sixteen combined penalty minutes each. However, the Tigers held their ground and stayed ahead of the Wildcats for the full sixty minutes of gameplay.
Constance scored his first career goal 6:37 into Saturday’s game. Constance was assisted by Gavin Lindberg ‘28 and Tomas Mrsic ‘29.
Two-and-a-half minutes later, Bret Link ‘27 capitalized on the power play after NMU’s Zane Demsey received a two-minute minor for direct contact to the head. Forward Owen Becker ‘28 found Link from the left circle, and Link deflected the puck, sending it into the net for his fourth goal of the season. Link and Beckner currently lead the Tigers in points, Beckner with seven points and Link trailing slightly behind with six.
“For us tonight, it was important to get that lead, so obviously score first and then to build on the lead with a power play was big for us,” Mayotte said after Saturday’s game.
The Wildcats scored at 11:19 in the first for their only power play goal, and neither team found the back of the net for the next 20 minutes., With nine minutes remaining in the second, Veinbergs brought the Tigers to a 3-1 lead, and linemates Mrsic and Lindberg earned their second assists of the night.
CC’s dominance continued into the final period. Riley Stuart ‘27 opened the final twenty minutes of scoring with his third career goal and first this season, assisted by newcomer Connor Hvidston ‘29 at 11:04. NMU responded 52 seconds later with their second goal of the night, but with an established lead, the Tigers would take the game and series sweep.
“[I’m] really happy with our ability to get a lead and then extend a lead and keep it in those [tough] moments,” said Mayotte.
Beckner, last season’s point-leader and now assistant captain, scored the final goal with 3:20 remaining in the game. Constance and Brandon Lisowsky ‘29 assisted Beckner, bringing Constance to three weekend points.
Following the game, two Tigers were named the first two stars of the game: Constance and Beckner. The Tigers outshot the Wildcats 34-30, and Mbereko saved 28 shots on goal.
After the game, Mayotte credited his defensemen, noting that their opponents’ defensive pressure doesn’t faze them and that the new team is quickly adapting to the standard and expectations they play with.
The Tigers return to Ed Robson Arena on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 to kick off their NCHC campaign and the battle for the Penrose Cup, the conference regular-season title, against Omaha. Currently, eight of nine NCHC teams are receiving votes in the national polls, while five, including CC, are sitting within the top twenty. Omaha is the only NCHC team not receiving votes.