One team had to step up on Saturday night and the Broncos answered the call.  

Colorado College and Western Michigan were even on Friday night with the contest ending in a tie. On Saturday, the fourth-ranked team in the country broke the stalemate and took the series and the points toward conference standings with a 2-0 win at Ed Robson Arena. 

The Broncos’ first goal of the evening came courtesy of a man who’s no stranger to downtown Colorado Springs. Former CC forward Zaccharya Wisdom beat Tigers senior captain and netminder Kaidan Mbereko with a shot at the crease at the 9:21 mark of the first period. 

The Tigers (12-15-5, 6-11-5) appeared to tie the game near the end of the second period as freshman defenseman Mats Lindgren’s one-timer found twine in the final seconds of the middle frame, but the goal was waved off due to an interference penalty on CC senior left wing Ryan Alexander. 

Instead of a tie game, CC had to kill a penalty to begin the third period. The Tigers were successful but Western Michigan continued its pressure and doubled its advantage at 4:18 of the frame. Broncos forward Grant Slukynsky scored, assisted by Wisdom. The goal marked Slukynsky’s second point of the evening as he assisted Wisdom’s score in the first period. 

Saturday’s contest was the final home game of the season for the Tigers and the last hurrah for Mbereko, who played his entire career for CC and received conference goaltender of the year and All-American honors his sophomore season in 2024. He finished the evening with 24 saves. Both he and Alexander were honored after Saturday’s contest. 

With the result, CC is officially eliminated from hosting a playoff series in the quarterfinal round of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference tournament.

The Tigers will close out the regular season slate next week at Minnesota Duluth.