COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — After surrendering six goals the night before, Colorado College (11-12-3, 5-8-3 NCHC) bounced back against Arizona State (13-14-1, 6-9-1 NCHC) in a 4-1 win to split the weekend series. 

The Tigers showed their defense can be a threat to opposing offenses on Saturday. Jan, 31. For freshman goalie Jackson Urger, he was a brick wall, saving 21 of 22 shots on goal and leading the Tigers to the series win over ASU. 

However, it wasn’t just the defense that showed up for CC on Saturday night; its offense at even strength was able to net three goals against a very talented Sun Devils senior goalie, Samuel Urbann, with the fourth being an empty net goal with seven seconds left in the third period.

Despite the lopsided score making the game seem out of reach for ASU, it had five power-play opportunities; its only goal came with around 16 seconds left in the third period. 

In addition to the only goal, the power-play opportunities have still been a huge success for the Sun Devils all season, sitting at 26.5%. Not being able to capitalize on the other four attempts may have been a pivotal turning point in this game. 

On the other hand, the Tigers still struggled to score on their five power-play attempts, going 0-5, but won with the even-strength play

However, CC came out blazing within the first three minutes of the game, as it struck first with a goal from junior forward Brett Link, giving the Tigers their first lead of the series. 

Around the same time, CC struck again with the game-sealing goal, netted by sophomore defenseman Seth Constance, giving the Tigers a comfortable lead heading into the third period. 

Later in the period, the action struck when CC added some more insurance goals with two more from Drew Montgomery and an empty-netter by senior forward Ryan Alexander. 

With Saturday’s victory, the Tigers improved to 11-12-3 on the season and 5-8-3 in NCHC conference play and jumped ASU in the standings at 19 points and hold the tiebreaker against the Sun Devils. 

However, for ASU, this loss tonight drops it down to eighth in the NCHC, just ahead of Omaha by three points. 

A steep decline from last season's success, when the team made the Frozen Four, to a bottom-feeder in the conference. 

With injuries and transfers affecting this Sun Devils squad, they look to start February on a positive note as they take on the St. Cloud State Huskies (13-15, 6-12 NCHC), who are having a similar season to ASU.