Riley Stuart’s game-winning goal on Friday told the story of Colorado College’s evening and season in a matter of seconds. 

Tied in the third period, Tigers sophomore defenseman Philippe Blais-Savoie fired a shot from the right circle, but it was deflected away by visiting Providence goalie Philip Svedeback. Undeterred, Blais-Savoie sent in a second shot from the same circle moments later. The puck again bounced off Svedeback but then ricocheted off the body of Stuart at the crease and in. The goal gave CC a 3-2 nonconference win over the No. 16 Friars and the team’s second straight victory over a ranked opponent.   

“I think it’s a lot of things, we were working hard, it was coming,” Stuart said in a postgame television interview.  “We had a big push there.  We were getting pucks to the net from the blue line, which is huge for us. We had traffic around the net and good things happen when you have that working for you.”

A defining characteristic of this year’s Tigers has been the team’s ability to stick to its identity and game plan no matter the circumstance. That was on display again on Friday as CC (8-6-1, 2-5-1) entered both intermissions trailing by a goal but scored twice in the third to claim victory. 

Providence built its first lead of the evening after the visitors gained momentum from killing a major penalty. Friars left wing and leading scorer John Mustard was given a major and a game misconduct for contact to the head at 4:55 of the first period. 

But much like last weekend against Minnesota Duluth, CC was unable to capitalize on the major penalty. The Tigers entered the contest with a .146 power play percentage, the worst among teams in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. 

The Friars’ penalty kill led to a goal by defenseman Alex Rybakov at 12:11. 

CC responded in the second period as freshman left wing Brandon Lisowsky netted his second goal of the season at 2:06 of the middle frame, following a CC penalty kill. Lisowsky had a mostly open net as Svedeback was down on the ice after making a series of saves. 

But just when the Tigers seemed poised to take control of the game, adversity struck.

CC killed off a penalty against Blais-Savoie and earned what appeared to be a good goal after freshman left wing Wilson Björck put the puck in on a rebound off a save but the officials ruled that the net had come loose before the puck crossed the goal line. Instead of being up 2-1, CC remained tied, and moments later, freshman right wing Brayden Schuurman was called for a slashing penalty. 

Providence took full advantage of the power play and regained the lead courtesy of a score from the assistant captain and center Hudson Malinoski at 15:47.

CC entered the final frame down a goal but high in spirit and determination. 

“The mindset and the message stay the same the entire game. We knew we had them,” Stuart said in the television interview. “We were pushing the entire game. I thought we were controlling it when things weren’t going our way. We turned it back going our way pretty quick there.”  

Lisowsky helped the Tigers turn things around again, scoring a second goal in the third period. On the power play, the freshman from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, ripped a one-timer past Svedeback. 

CC senior goalie Kaidan Mbereko finished with 23 saves and the Tigers outshot the Friars 33-25. 

Junior left wing and assistant captain Drew Montgomery left the contest and did not return.

CC and Providence will conclude the series on Saturday at 6 p.m.