CC Hockey sweeps top seeded North Dakota on the road, ranked 20th in the nation

COLORADO SPRINGS — The Colorado College hockey team had an incredible weekend that landed them in the national rankings.

The CC Tigers swept the former number one team in the country, the North Dakota Fighting Hawks at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, ND.

The sweep earned the Tigers a number 20 ranking in the USA Hockey Division I poll this week, marking the first time CC hockey has been ranked since 2012. Following the two losses, North Dakota dropped to fourth in the polls.

After trailing 2-0 on Friday night, CC fought back to tie the game at 2-2, and send it to overtime. Sophomore Noah Laba scored just 35 seconds into overtime to snap the Tigers 15-game losing streak against the Fighting Hawks.

Friday’s win wasn’t just a fluke as the Tigers turned around and did the exact same thing Saturday night. Sophomore Gleb Veremyev was the hero in overtime that night, scoring less than 3 minutes in for back-to-back 3-2 overtime wins against North Dakota.

The sweep was the first time the Tigers have won a road set against North Dakota in 30 years.

The Tigers sophomore goalie Kaidan Mbereko earned NCHC goaltender of the week, making 52 saves total between the two games.

“It feels great obviously,” said Head Coach Kris Mayotte after Friday’s win. “I’m really proud of our guys. Obviously, we felt like we played well enough last weekend and didn’t get the results and this was a great college hockey game, it was back and forth, and I’m really proud of our guys finding a way to get it done.”

With the upset victories, CC improves to 9-6-1 overall, and 4-4 in National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) play. The Tigers have an exhibition home game on Dec. 29 before returning to action on Sun. Jan. 7 at Minnesota.

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