Colorado College lost a point, not a hockey game.  

That’s the message Tigers coach Kris Mayotte had for his team after CC went beyond regulation for the fourth-straight Friday in a game that ended in a 1-1 tie against visiting No. 4 Western Michigan. The contest marks CC’s fifth draw this season, all of which have been in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play. 

The Broncos picked up an extra point toward conference standings as top-line right wing William Whitelaw scored the only goal of the shootout. There have been six shootouts in the conference this season, CC has been involved in five. 

“We’ve now played 21 NCHC games and 10 have gone to overtime,” Mayotte said. “The big thing for us tonight is we lose in a shootout, we can’t let that affect how we feel like we played.“

Relentless pressure led to CC’s first score. The Tigers pinned the Broncos in their own zone and freshman defenseman Mats Lindgren scored his fifth goal of the season on a blast from the left point at 13:26. 

The second period has been a sticking point for the Tigers this season. In the past two weeks, CC has entered the middle frame with a lead the previous two Friday evenings but neither contest ended in a win for the Tigers. 

Western Michigan tilted the ice in the second period, outshooting CC 14-5 bolstered by a pair of power plays. For all the opportunity, the Broncos only came away with a goal, scored by left wing Sam Huck off a rebound from a Kaidan Mbereko save at 1:56 of the period. 

The Broncos and Tigers took turns dominating the game on Friday. CC outshot Western 10-3 in the first, and after the Broncos controlled the second period, the Tigers regained momentum in the third with a 13-7 shot advantage. In overtime, Western had four shots to CC’s one. 

“I really liked how we played tonight and not that we were perfect for 60 minutes, but I think in our press conference on Wednesday, the question was what do you really like about this team? It’s that they keep getting better and I think we saw that tonight,” Mayotte said. “They made a push (in the second) and we didn’t manage it very well, but we didn’t let that carry to the third.”

On the evening, the Tigers held a slim advantage over Western Michigan in shots 29-28. CC’s senior captain and goalie Kaidan Mbereko made 27 saves. 

The Tigers will look to take a majority of the weekend’s points when the series concludes on Saturday at 6 p.m.