Noah Prokop skated between the face off circles, connected with the puck, and fired a shot toward the Denver goal. It collided with the pads of DU netminder Magnus Chrona and the Tigers rushed back to the bench for a line change.

In the grand scheme of hockey, the shot was run of the mill, but unfortunately for the Tigers, it was a unique moment during the first frame. Because Prokop’s attempt was the only shot on goal CC (6-12-3, 3-71) recorded in the first 16 minutes.

They ended the period with 3 total, but were still well behind DU’s 13.

Those first-period numbers are indicative of the entire contest, and DU (15-5-1, 8-3-0) dominated from start to finish for a 5-0 victory on Friday at Magness Arena.

”It’s the little things early on that either give your opponent momentum or you know, you fight your way through it and you survive a little bit,” CC coach Kris Mayotte said.

While the Tigers struggled to get the puck near DU’s goal, the Pioneers had no shortage of chances.

DU controlled possession in the first, and stopped the Tigers from generating chances, taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

The goal came on the only power play of the period, after Tyler Coffey was whistled for tripping.

Cole Guttman took a shot from just inside the left face off circle, before skating around the CC defense to get his own rebound. The second time, he connected, and DU took a 1-0 lead with 3:20 gone by in the game.

Prior to the goal, DU had three point-blank shots on the power play, but CC goalie Dominic Basse came up with the saves.

”I thought he gave us a chance, because they were all over us in the first,” Mayotte said of Basse. “He gave us a chance for it to be close after the first, and out response in the second was not good enough.”

Then, in the second frame, the Pioneers took their attack to a new level and poured on three more goals.

”The amount of possession that they had, you start giving those players (the Pioneers) confidence, and you‘re in for a long night,” Mayotte said. “You’re asking for trouble.”

The No. 5 Pioneers are first in the country in goals per game (4.65 per game), and their offense lived up to expectations.

Brett Stapley started off the second with an even-strength goal at 5:13, before assisting on another score seven minutes later.

The senior fired a pass in front of the net where Ryan Barrow was waiting to tap it in.

The fourth goal was scored by Cameron Wright.

DU added a fifth in the final frame, scored by Carter Mazur.

“It’s definitely the deepest team I’ve been a part of the last few years,” Barrow said. “It’s exciting to go out there and score goals. It’s a lot of fun to watch.”

Colorado College got its first sweep of the season over Miami on Jan. 7 and 8 before going on a COVID pause that postponed its series with Western Michigan. Prior to taking on DU, the Tigers were on a three-game win streak, their first consecutive victories of the season.

During that stretch, CC played some of its best hockey. Against DU, it was the opposite.

”We just weren’t willing to put pucks deep and make it a 200 foot game,” Mayotte said. “We kept giving them short ice. And that’s that’s a problem.”

DU outshot CC 36-19 and scored on both of its power play attempts. Meanwhile, CC was shutout for the fourth time this season. This is the first time the Tigers failed to score a goal since a 0-0 tie with Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 13. This was the 12th time DU scored at least five goals in a game.

The teams play again on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Ed Robson Arena, where DU will look to complete the sweep and claim the Gold Pan trophy.