Tigers Bounced From WCHA Postseason

It all fell apart for Colorado College on Sunday night. Matt Zaba allowed a few fluky goals, and the Tigers were once again plagued by a dysfunctional offense. St. Cloud State got on the board first in the second period when a shot from the point bounced off a player and snuck past Matt Zaba. CC started the third period on a five on three after Nate Raduns took an unsportmanlike minor at the 20:00 mark of the second period. The Tigers capitalized only 11 seconds into the period, with Brett Sterling one timing a shot past Goepfert after a beautiful pass from Chad Rau. Marty Sertich also assisted. This would prove to be the only time that CC's offense could find the back of the net against Goepfert.

St. Cloud State took a 2-1 lead later in the period and that would be all that they needed. The Huskies added another one to make the score 3-1, and things began to look bad for CC. With just a few minutes to play, it looked like the Tigers might have a slim chance at a come back when St. Cloud State took another penalty. The game was effectively over, however, after Marty Sertich was tossed from the game and given a 5:00 major on an inexplicable checking from behind call from referee Todd Anderson. Despite allowing CC to handle the puck after the hit, which appeared clean, Anderson finally blew the whistle when the St. Cloud State player would not get up and it looked like Bob Motzko was going to have a heart attack. After finally putting a stop to play, Anderson skated to the scorers' box and gave Sertich the five minute major. Fans at the World Arena, having had enough of Anderson's officiating, reacted furiously and a few drinks were tossed to the ice.

On a happier note, CC fans can take solace in the fact that somehow #2 seed Denver was upset once again by Minnesota-Duluth. The loss effectively ends the Pioneers' hopes of making the NCAA tournament. Denver now sits tied at #16 in the Pairwise with Northern Michigan and will need a PWR miracle to keep their season alive. CC slips to #10 in the rankings with the loss, but is still a likely bet to make the tournament.