COLORADO SPRINGS — Western Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Bruce McLeod didn’t make the trip here Saturday night from his southern Denver suburb for nothing. He witnessed a terrific game.
But the hardware he was expecting to present to Colorado College was nowhere to be seen, seemingly stolen by Minnesota State.
The Mavericks stormed back from a two-goal deficit in the third period to defeat the Tigers 3-2 in overtime at the World Arena. Sophomore wing Kael Mouillierat scored 16 seconds into OT with his own rebound off a wrap-around, giving Minnesota State a split of the two-game series and a fifth-place tie for the final home-ice WCHA playoff spot.
The loss prevented CC from clinching a share of the MacNaughton Cup as WCHA regular-season champion, and redirects the title chase through Denver.
The league-leading Tigers (24-9-1, 19-6-1 WCHA) conclude the regular season next weekend in a home-and-home series against the University of Denver. Game 1 is Friday night at Magness Arena, where CC again will try to clinch the Cup.
DU has been eliminated from winning the Cup but could still catch North Dakota for second. The Fighting Sioux, who play today at Minnesota-Duluth, are four points behind CC and two ahead of the Pioneers.
“We had two (third-period) breakaways and a power-play opportunity and we couldn’t get a third goal,” said CC coach Scott Owens, whose team led 2-0 going into the third period after goals from Eric Walsky and Chad Rau. “They were a hungrier team, a desperate team playing for home ice and playing to salvage their weekend. That’s a pretty good hockey team, and you know what, we did not earn ourselves a championship tonight.”
It was just the second loss in 17 home games for CC, which fell to a tie with Miami (Ohio) for fourth in the PairWise Rankings. DU, despite losing 2-1 at Michigan Tech on Saturday, remains sixth.
Eight WCHA teams are among the top 14 teams in the PairWise, which mimics the method used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee to seed the 16-team field. The fact CC is still atop the rugged WCHA did not comfort the Tigers after Minnesota State capped its rally.
“Having a 2-0 lead at home and having a chance to pick up the win is the most disappointing thing,” Owens said.
Senior Jimmy Kilpatrick, who was one of two Tigers to fail to convert on third-period breakaways, said: “You go into the third period up two goals with a championship on the line, and you give it away. I have to take full blame myself. I had a chance to put it away and didn’t get it. . . . We didn’t get it done and you have to give them credit. It was a must-win for them.”
Minnesota State 0 0 2 1 — 3
Colorado College 0 2 0 0 — 2
First period — None. Penalties — Bruess, MSU (tripping), 3:55; Thauwald, CC (interference), 16:06.
Second period — 1, Colorado College, Walski 12 (Johnson, Prosser), 8:06. 2, Colorado College, Rau 25 (McCulloch, Kilpatrick), 18:34. Penalties — Hillen, CC (cross checking), 1:48; Linder, MSU (holding), 4:05; Irwin, MSU (hooking), 14:24; Sweatt, CC (10 misconduct), 18:15.
Third period — 3, Minnesota State, Wiley 10 (Sackrison), :37. 4, Minnesota State, Stewart 3 (Gunderson, Canzanello), 5:13. Penalties — Prosser, CC (hooking), 1:05; Harrison, MSU (roughing), 1:05; Prosser, CC (roughing), 1:05; MSU bench (too many men), 2:18; Stewart, MSU (hooking), 10:28.
Overtime — 5, Minnesota State, Mouillierat 9 (Hanson, Harrison), :16. Penalties — None.
Shots — MSU 10-12-12-1—35. CC 13-9-8-0—30. Power plays — MSU 0 of 3. CC 0 of 5. Goalies — MSU, Zacharias (16-10-4) 30 shots-28 saves. CC, Bachman (22-6-1) 35-32.
A — 7,174.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
