It's hauntingly familiar to CC

Colorado College let a win slip away as the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs rallied during the third period at World Arena for a 4-3 victory in Western Collegiate Hockey Association play Friday night.

The Bulldogs (6-2-1, 3-1-1) scored twice, with the game-winner coming at 4:52 left, silencing the announced crowd of 6,962.

CC gave the fans something to get loud about late, when the first penalty of the third period was called with 2:24 remaining, on Minnesota-Duluth’s Scott Kishel. Another penalty on Jordan Fulton gave the Tigers a 5-on-3 advantage, becoming a 6-on-3 with a minute left when CC goalie Joe Howe was pulled for an extra attacker.

The resulting 6-on-3 just proved frustrating for the Tiger fans as shots sailed wide or were deflected away by Bulldogs defenders.

The game ended with a 6-on-4 CC advantage as the Bulldogs celebrated their fourth win in World Arena in a row. Duluth is 4-0-1 in their last five in Colorado Springs, including last season’s playoff sweep.

“We didn’t have much puck luck,” Tigers coach Scott Owens said. “With the way our power play has been, you’d think we’d have gotten a goal in the final 2 minutes.”

CC (4-2-1, 3-1-1 league) came into the game with a 10-3 scoring edge at home in the third period and with the nation’s best power play (32.4 percent). Both teams went 1-for-6 with the man advantage on the night.
After two periods, it looked like another comeback win for the Tigers.

Freshman William Rapuzzi scored off a rebound after a hard shot by Bill Sweatt to give CC a 3-2 lead headed into the third. Rapuzzi reached in behind goalie Kenny Reiter to tap the loose puck in. His goal was only 19 seconds after a power play goal by Kris Fredheim, who fired a hard shot over Reiter’s right shoulder through traffic to make it 2-2 with 10:50 left.

CC had a chance to go ahead 4-2 later in the second period on a penalty shot by Stephen Schultz, but Reiter made the pad save to keep the game close.

“That would have been big, but there was a lot of time left and we still up 3-2 headed into the third period,” Owens said. “This was disappointing.”