Colorado College Rally Falls Just Short at No. 10 Omaha
OMAHA, Neb. -- Colorado College scored three times in the third period but couldn’t overcome a 4-0 deficit to No. 10 Omaha and fell to the Mavericks, 4-3, Friday night at Baxter Arena.
Brannon McManus had a goal and an assist and Isaiah Saville had 27 saves as the Mavericks improved to 12-3 overall and 3-2 in the NCHC.
The Tigers (2-8-3, 0-4-1 NCHC) trailed by four entering the third period, but stormed back with three goals in the final frame. Hunter McKown put the Tigers on the board at the 5:39 mark with a wrist shot from the left circle that beat Saville, then Logan Will made it 4-2 with his fourth goal of the season with 7:05 remaining in the final frame. Will crashed the net after a shot from Nate Schweitzer got through and put the puck past Saville from the crease.
“Once we scored, the next shift was our best fore-checking all game,” head coach Kris Mayotte said. “Unfortunately, it was a little too late.”
During a late power play with goalie Matt Vernon on the bench in favor of an extra skater, Stanley Cooley won a faceoff that went right to Matthew Gleason, who deposited a shot past Saville from the high slot to cut the deficit to one with 31 seconds remaining. Gleason, who had the primary assist on McKown’s goal, finished with one goal and one assist.
Omaha turned a handful of CC turnovers deep in its own zone into a 3-0 lead within a span of 2:15 midway through the first period. Jimmy Glynn was on the receiving end of an errant pass from the corner and opened the scoring by putting his own rebound past Vernon at the 11:08 mark. After some miscommunication between a couple of Tiger defenders, Jack Randl doubled the lead just 64 seconds later with a one-timer from the slot.
Just one minute and 11 seconds after that, Ty Mueller stole the puck along the near boards and McManus found Tyler Weiss, who finished a 2-on-1 in front of the net to make it 3-0 with 6:37 remaining in the opening frame.
“We needed to manage the first period,” Mayotte said. “The game was a little fast for us early on. They ended up getting three, but our response to that was good.”
Vernon made a couple of big stops in the second period, including a spectacular glove save midway through the frame after Omaha held possession for nearly two straight minutes. The Mavericks took a 4-0 lead with 2:11 left in the second when a Tiger pass went off a teammate’s skate in front of the net and slid past Vernon. McManus was credited with the goal as the last Maverick to touch the puck.
McKown led all players with five shots, followed by Cooley with four. Vernon finished the contest with 24 saves and the Tigers were 1-for-5 on the power play. Omaha, meanwhile, was 0-for-4 on the power play.
The team will wrap up the weekend series on Saturday, Dec. 4, beginning at 6 p.m. (MT).
