The Colorado College Tigers hosted their final home series of the 2025-26 regular season on Friday, Feb. 20, and Saturday, Feb. 21, against the No. 4 Western Michigan University Broncos. The Broncos narrowly beat the Tigers in an overtime shootout before defeating the Tigers 0-2 on Saturday.
The Broncos, who earned the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) regular season, post-season conference championship and NCAA Division I national championship titles last season, claimed five of the available six points in the series and furthered their season record to 23-8-1. The Tigers, however, fell to an overall record 12-15-5, sitting with a .453 win percentage.
For one Bronco, the series marked a return to his former home ice.
Zaccharya Wisdom ‘27 played for the Tigers for his freshman and sophomore seasons and became a top player during his time at CC. He tallied over 20 points in both years he played in the black and gold sweater, and transferred to WMU following the 2024-25 season. During his first weekend back at CC, his shift triggered booing fans and taunting cheers from the Mike Slade ‘79 Student Section.
Fans banged on the glass when Wisdom passed, and by the time Kaidan Mbereko ‘26 skated into the spotlight for the starting lineup, Ed Robson Arena was already on its feet. The atmosphere was set. Fans wanted a chippy and physical game, even if it just meant taunting the former Tiger and his teammates.
The Tigers opened Friday night and, for a fleeting period, resembled teams from previous seasons. They dominated possession of the puck and held solid within the offensive zone, placing ten shots on goal in the first 20 minutes. Comparatively, the Broncos placed just three on net.
At 13:26 in the first period, Mats Lindgren ‘29 fired past WMU goaltender, found the back of the net and the goal horn rang out. Robson erupted. The Tigers had placed the first goal of the night on the scoreboard against the reigning national champions. Lindgren was assisted by Gavin Lindberg ‘28 and Fischer Scott ‘28.
The teams returned to the ice for the second period with CC up 1-0. However, the Tigers’ dominance quickly fell into missed passes and messy hits, and the Broncos tied the score in under two minutes. By the end of the second, the Broncos had placed 14 more shots on net. The Tigers only had five.
“I thought we took a step, another step, in the right direction in terms of how maturely we played and how we managed the game tonight,” head coach Kris Mayotte said following Friday’s game.
The third period was scoreless and the game went into overtime. Neither team could find the back of the net, largely due to multiple standout saves from Mbereko.
“I think one of the areas where we really need to grow is understanding that the first period doesn’t carry into the second period,” said Mayotte. “You have to start the second period again as if it’s a new game and go learn it all over again.”
“I didn’t think we were able to do that,” Mayotte added.
With 2:32 remaining in overtime, Wisdom met his former goalie by the crease and attempted to bury it behind Mbereko. Mbereko saved it, and the score remained at 1-1.
Mbereko, in what was likely the final home game of his illustrious collegiate career, was stellar on Friday night. The senior captain made save after save, deflecting the puck from the shaft of his stick at one point and another off a reach to the top left corner. He finished the night with 27 saves.
“[Mbereko is] playing big. He looks calm. He looks confident, and that bleeds through our bench,” Mayotte said of Mbereko’s Friday night performance.
The following evening, CC celebrated the two senior Tigers: Ryan Alexander and Mbereko.
Mbereko joined the Tigers as a freshman and quickly worked his way into the starting lineup, starting in 29 out of 30 games played. The following year, Mbereko was nominated for the Hobey Baker Award and was one of three finalists for the Mike Richter Award, given to the top goaltender in collegiate hockey. He was voted NCHC Goaltender of the Year unanimously and named to the First-Team All-American by the American Hockey Coaches Association.
Alexander joined the Tigers this fall after transferring from Arizona State University. The forward has collected one goal and three assists this season for the Tigers.
The Tigers came out slower than the night before and, even after having two power play opportunities early in the first period, were not able to place more than five shots on goal to finish the first.
In a video posted to Instagram, Mayotte commented on the game, “I didn’t feel like either team had the legs tonight. I thought last night was a pretty fast game; tonight was just a choppy, slow game.”
The former Tiger, Wisdom, scored the first goal of the game nine minutes into the first period after a wraparound shot. The first period ended with three penalties, one two-minute minor on Klavs Veinbergs ‘27 for slashing and two for a Western Michigan player, William Whitelaw, who was called for two major penalties, contact to the head and a game misconduct, ending his time on the ice for the night. The Tigers had almost a three-minute power play to start the second period.
The Tigers picked up momentum in the second period. They produced 14 shots on goal and had many close attempts for the puck to find the back of the net.
In the last two seconds of the second, CC faced off in the Broncos’ zone and pulled Mbereko to add an extra player in hopes of evening the score. After the faceoff, Lindgren took a shot that found the back of the net, though the goal was nullified for a penalty. Alexander received two-minutes for interfering, and the goal was voided. As boos erupted in the stadium, Alexander entered the box. The clock reset with one second left.
The Tigers began the third period man down but killed the penalty, returning to full strength without a WMU power play goal. However, the Broncos scored their second goal two minutes later, bringing the score to 0-2. WMU’s Grant Slukynsky was assisted by Wisdom, earning his second point of the night against his former team.
The Tigers outshot the Broncos nine to five in the third period, but still were unable to generate the momentum to add a goal to the board.
After the game ended, Senior Night commenced, honoring Mbereko and Alexander as well as two former Tigers, Gleb Veremyev ‘26 and Noah Laba ‘26. Both Laba and Veremyev signed professional contracts last spring, Laba with the New York Rangers and Veremyev with the New York Islanders, and are finishing their degrees with the school. Veremyev is currently playing with the AHL Bridgeport Islanders.
“It’s a hard situation to change schools,” Mayotte said on Alexander’s transfer. “He was put into a spot where he had to find a new home, and he’s been great for us. He’s such a fun kid and brings energy every single day and has been such a positive influence on our guys and in our locker room, and he’s a heck of a competitor as a hockey player.”
After getting emotional as he hugged Mbereko during the seniors’ celebration, Mayotte went on to talk about Mbereko’s influence on the program at CC.
“He has been a part of our program for a really long time,” Mayotte shared. “He helped us tremendously in recruiting the rest of [his senior] class, so he had a big impact on this program before he even got here.”
Mbereko is the only remaining player from his freshman class. The other seven have either transferred or signed professional deals.
“We couldn’t have hit a bigger home run than him when we recruited him,” he said. “He always steps up no matter what, and he’s been so loyal to this program.”
One young fan, as captured in a video later posted by Colorado College Tiger Hockey, held up a sign that read “Go Kaidan / I’ve been cheering for you for more than half of my life! / I will miss you!” Another read “Thanks for the memories Kaidan.”
“We are going to miss him,” Mayotte added.
The CC Tigers play their final series of the 2025-26 regular season on Friday, Feb. 27, and Saturday, Feb. 28, against No. 9 Minnesota Duluth in Minnesota.