St. Cloud scores 4 in first, blasts Tigers
The adjectives used to describe Colorado College's season usually focused on disappointment, perhaps some frustration, but never outright embarrassment.
Time to cover your eyes, Tiger fans. CC's season hit rock bottom Saturday when St. Cloud State pounded the Tigers 6-1 at World Arena.
The game was all but over by the end of the first period as the Huskies grabbed a 4-0 lead, scoring twice in a 36-second span to take control.
Drew LeBlanc, a freshman with two career goals before Saturday, had a hat trick 31 minutes into the game.
CC managed a tie and a loss against St. Cloud, which was eighth in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association coming into the series. The Tigers are 13-9-6 and 9-8-3 in the WCHA. St. Cloud is 13-11-2 and 8-9-1.
Saturday's loss was an utter failure in every aspect.
"There's just nothing good," coach Scott Owens said. "It's not a good hockey team right now."
CC blew a 4-2 third-period lead in Friday night's tie, and St. Cloud maintained its momentum and played well Saturday.
With its first five shots, St. Cloud scored three goals. The Tigers couldn't clear the puck on one shift, which led to the first goal by LeBlanc. Defenseman Sam Zabkowicz then put a shot through CC goaltender Richard Bachman's legs for a 2-0 lead. Thirty-six seconds later, a shot off Bachman went up in the air and behind him. St. Cloud forward Tony Mosey knocked it down with his hand and swatted it in the net.
"It was very surprising, very shocking and I don't think we dealt with it well," Owens said of the quick deficit. "We shouldn't get ourselves in that position. It was awful."
Later in the first period, LeBlanc made it 4-0.
"They were a hungrier team," Bachman said. "They saw a chance and they jumped on us."
Owens said he didn't consider pulling Bachman early because some of the goals were deflections. In the third period, Bachman was replaced by sophomore Tyler O'Brien. Normal backup Drew O'Connell was out because of a shoulder injury.
Owens said he didn't think Bachman, last season's WCHA Player of the Year, has been as sharp this season. However, he wasn't pinning the blame on his goalie.
"He's one of our issues, but he's not in the top four," Owens said.
The Tigers lost another player to injury, as well. Center Nick Dineen suffered an upper-body injury and was scheduled to get X-rays. The problems are mounting for CC, which now gets a much-needed week off.
"There's really no answer right now," senior captain Jake Gannon said. "We're just not playing well right now. We've got to start making some improvements."
