#4/#4 North Dakota (16-4-0) travels to face unranked Colorado College (8-9-3) at Robson Arena this weekend in a pivotal matchup to open up the second half of the conference season. After opening the 2025-2026 campaign with a record of 5-1-0, the Tigers have just three wins since October 18th (3-8-3), including two road losses at Augustana last weekend.
UND (8-1-0-1 in league play) currently sits in first place in the NCHC, one point ahead of second-place Denver (7-1-1-1). Amazingly, Colorado College has picked up just one regulation win in ten conference games (1-4-2-3), which has the Tigers in seventh place, one point ahead of Omaha (3-7-0-0) and two points clear of last-place Miami (1-6-2-1).
Two seasons ago, Colorado College secured home ice for the first round of the conference playoffs for the first time in league history, but last year, CC found themselves in the bottom half of the table yet again. In the NCHC, Colorado College has finished 7th, 8th, 8th, 8th, 7th, 6th, 8th, 7th, 7th, 7th, 4th, and 6th for the worst average finish (6.92) among all nine league teams. North Dakota leads the conference with an average finish of 2.67 (2nd, 1st, 1st, 4th, 4th, 5th, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 5th, 1st, and 5th).
Before we take a deep dive into how these two programs stack up this weekend, let’s have a look back at the past few matchups between North Dakota and Colorado College…
In 2024-2025, UND won the program’s fifth Penrose Cup by earning points in every league game up until they went to Colorado Springs to face the Tigers on February 16th and 17th, 2024. CC embarrassed the Green and White with a weekend sweep (7-1, 6-2).
Back on December 8th and 9th, 2023, unranked Colorado College shocked the college hockey world by not only taking then-#1 North Dakota to overtime in back-to-back games but also finishing the job each night during the five-minute 3-on-3 session.
On Friday night, UND outshot the Tigers 34-23 but were undone by sloppy specialty teams play. The Fighting Hawks went 0-for-1 on the power play and gave up a late second-period power play goal that tied the game at two goals apiece. North Dakota led 2-0 midway through the middle frame but could not extend or hold that lead.
Saturday night was a more even affair, with the teams trading chances and putting an identical 24 shots on goal apiece. CC shined in the faceoff circle, however, winning 42 of 64 draws (65.6%).
Three seasons ago, the teams only played two games, and, in a strange February series in the Springs, North Dakota earned a 2-1 overtime victory on Friday before the two teams skated to a 0-0 tie in the rematch, just the third scoreless game in UND hockey history.
North Dakota went 6-0 against CC four seasons ago, outscoring the Tigers 20-7. The two first-round playoff games in Grand Forks were tight affairs, with UND advancing to St. Paul by virtue of a pair of 2-1 victories. In that series, all six goals were scored in the second period.
When the teams squared off at brand-new Robson Arena for a December 2021 series in Colorado Springs, the Fighting Hawks secured the road sweep with 5-2 and 4-1 victories. Those games dropped the Tigers to 3-10-3 on the season.
UND held the advantage in all phases, outshooting the Tigers 62-54 and winning 72 of 119 faceoffs (60.5%). North Dakota scored three power play goals on nine attempts and held Colorado College to just a single power play goal in ten man-advantage opportunities.
After that weekend, the Tigers went 4-4-0 against Arizona State, Miami, Denver, and Omaha to close out January, much more respectable results for first-year head coach Kris Mayotte. Mayotte replaced Mike Haviland, who went just 74-177-28 (.315) in his seven seasons behind the Tiger bench, with no regular season or postseason titles and zero NCAA tournament appearances. Haviland had something brewing from 2017-2019, with his teams going 32-37-9 (.468). Things fell off over his last two seasons, however (15-37-5, .307), and it was time for a change.
February and March of 2022 were not kind to Mayotte’s squad, however, as the Tigers won just twice in their last twelve games. Both of those victories came in overtime against Miami (4-3, 3-2). In the other eight, CC was outscored 30-11.
Two of those losses came on February 11th and 12th at UND. Colorado College put up a good showing in Friday night’s 3-2 defeat, nearly overcoming a 3-0 first-period deficit and outshooting North Dakota 26-21 for the game. The Fighting Hawks turned the tables in Saturday’s 4-0 triumph, sweeping the regular season series between the two teams by a combined score of 16-5.
Prior to the last series in Grand Forks, North Dakota had only trailed for a total of eleven minutes and fifty seconds over the previous eight games.
Colorado College also traveled to Grand Forks to face UND in the first round of the playoffs in 2014, 2015, and 2016. As I’ve written about before, it is difficult to end a team’s season, and tight Saturday night elimination games are to be expected, even after relatively comfortable Friday night victories. In fact, UND’s 2016 sweep (7-1, 5-1) is one of only two playoff series in recent memory that did not feature at least one close contest.
Here are the results from the past four first-round playoff series between North Dakota and Colorado College:
2014: UND 4-2, CC 3-2 (OT), UND 4-3
2015: UND 5-1, UND 3-2
2016: UND 7-1, UND 5-1
2022: UND 2-1, UND 2-1
CC was also scheduled to face the Fighting Hawks in 2020 before the college hockey season was canceled due to COVID-19. And three seasons ago, the Tigers dressed just eleven forwards, five defensemen, and one goalie for their opening-round game against St. Cloud State at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Despite losing a blueliner to a major penalty in the second period, Colorado College took SCSU to the wire, surrendering the game-winning goal with less than four minutes remaining in the contest.
Turning our attention to this season..
A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and Kris Mayotte’s squad has just six players who meet that threshold: sophomore forward Owen Beckner (6-10-16), sophomore forward Gavin Lindberg (6-8-14), junior forward Bret Link (5-8-13), junior forward Klavs Veinbergs (6-5-11), freshman forward Brandon Lisowsky (4-7-11), and freshman forward Wilson Bjorck (5-3-8 in fifteen games).
On the back end, the Tigers have just ONE upperclassman on their roster: junior defenseman Max Burkholder, who was injured in the third game of the season and is not expected to return to the lineup. Colorado College replaced Burkholder with Mats Lindgren over Christmas break; Lindgren – a fourth-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft who played for the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) last season – picked up an assist and registered five shots on goal last weekend at Augustana. Prior to last year, Lindgren played in 220 games over five seasons in the WHL.
North Dakota boasts impressive scoring depth, with twelve players expected in the lineup this weekend scoring a half-point per game or better, including THREE – freshman forward Cole Reschny (2-16-18), senior forward Ellis Rickwood (3-13-16), and senior forward Ben Strinden (12-8-20) – averaging a full point per game or better. Other key offensive contributors include freshman forward Will Zellers (10-6-16), senior forward Dylan James (11-4-15), sophomore forward Mac Swanson (4-10-14), freshman forward Ollie Josephson (3-8-11), freshman forward Jack Kernan (5-4-9), sophomore forward Cade Littler (4-5-9), junior defenseman Jake Livanavage (3-15-18), freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff (4-7-11), and junior defenseman Abram Wiebe (2-11-13).
Freshman forward Josh Zakreski had a fine start to his season, with one goal and two assists in his first six collegiate games, but he was injured in practice in October and has not returned to the lineup.
Offensively, UND far outpaces Colorado College. To this point of the season, North Dakota has scored 76 goals (3.80 goals per game, 7th in the country), while CC has managed just 55 (2.75, 38th).
The Fighting Hawks have a narrow edge over the Tigers in two key puck possession statistics:
Corsi: UND 56.6% (6th), CC 56.1% (8th)
Fenwick: UND 56.4% (8th), CC 54.8% (12th)
Corsi measures the share of shot attempts for each team at even strength, while Fenwick measure the share of unblocked shot attempts for each team at even strength.
Amazingly, Colorado College is putting more shots on goal per game than North Dakota (34.8 – 31.4). CC ranks 10th in the nation in that category; UND, 20th.
So how is it that North Dakota has scored more than one goal per game more than the Tigers through the first twenty games of the season?
It’s quite simple. UND is scoring on 12.1% of its shots on goal (6th in the country), while Colorado College scores on just 7.9% (57th). Or, seen another way, opposing netminders have a save percentage of just .879 against North Dakota, while goaltenders facing CC have a save percentage of .921.
The Fighting Hawks also boast the nation’s best power play, clipping along at 32.4 percent. Colorado College is scoring on just 15.5 percent of man advantage opportunities (48th in the country).
UND’s penalty kill has been capable but not outstanding, negating opponent power plays at a clip of 81.8% (29th). The Fighting Hawks have scored and allowed four shorthanded goals this season.
On the penalty kill, Colorado College has been less than stellar, with a success rate of just 75.4% (51st). The Tigers have also allowed two shorthanded tallies while scoring zero.
Overall, UND is plus-12 on specialty teams, while CC is minus-8.
Defensively, North Dakota is only allowing 23.3 shots on goal per game (3rd in the country); Colorado College is allowing 28.3 (24th). Through the first twenty games, UND has allowed a total of 42 goals (2.10, 7th in the country) while CC has let in 54 (2.70, 25th).
As always, a key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. The Tigers are the nation’s 3rd-best team on draws (54.8%), while the Fighting Hawks clock in at #9 (53.5%).
For UND, senior transfer Ellis Rickwood has been a huge addition up the middle, winning 164 of 262 (62.6%). Three freshmen – Cole Reschny (145 of 262, 55.3%), Ollie Josephson (155 of 292, 53.1%), and Jack Kernan (53 of 88, 60.2%) have performed admirably as well.
For the Tigers, three centermen have exceeded 100 faceoff wins this season:
Junior Klavs Veinbergs: 245 of 410 (59.9%)
Freshman Brayden Schuurman: 156 of 277 (56.3%)
Sophomore Owen Beckner: 116 of 228 (50.9%)
CC has been without Owen Beckner since November 29th; head coach Kris Mayotte lists him as between questionable and doubtful for this weekend. Had he been healthy, Beckner would have suited up for the U.S. Collegiate Selects at the Spengler Cup last month.
Colorado College senior netminder Kaidan Mbereko has not been quite as effective as he was two seasons ago for the Tigers, but he is still affecting games and keeping CC competitive:
2023-24: 21-13-3, 2.40 goals-against average, .915 save percentage
2024-25: 15-15-1, 2.65 goals-against average, .905 save percentage
2025-26: 8-8-3, 2.50 goals-against average, .910 save percentage
The difference in the won-loss record for Mbereko? Puck support.
Two seasons ago, Colorado College outscored opponents 111-93 in 37 games.
Last year, CC was outscored 113-106 in 37 games.
And this season, the Tigers have played opponents nearly even (55-54 in 20 games).
Fighting Hawks’ graduate netminder Gibson Homer (6-4-0, 2.43 goals-against average, .895 save percentage) started each of the first four games of the season and then split the next four weekends with freshman Jan Spunar (10-0-0, 1.50 GAA, .936 SV%, one shutout) before giving way to Spunar entirely over the next two weekends (home-and-home with Bemidji State and at St. Cloud State). Both goaltenders earned starts in the last two home series (vs. Omaha and Mercyhurst); I would expect Spunar to get the nod in tonight’s opener.
North Dakota finished up its non-conference schedule with two home victories over Mercyhurst last weekend (2-0, 6-1). The Fighting Hawks went a combined 8-2 vs. St. Thomas (sweep), Minnesota (split), Clarkson (split), Bemidji State (sweep), and Mercyhurst (sweep). Those results – combined with a record of 8-1-0-1 in conference play – have North Dakota sitting at #2 (behind only Michigan) in the NCAA Percentage Index (NPI) rankings used to seed the NCAA tournament.
After this weekend, North Dakota will play three home conference series (vs. Denver, Miami, and St. Cloud State) and three road conference series (at Arizona State, Minnesota Duluth, and Western Michigan) over the next eight weeks before the NCHC postseason begins on March 6th.
Minnesota Duluth is ranked #5 in the latest USCHO poll, while Western Michigan is at #6 and Denver sits at #7. No other league teams are ranked in the top twenty.
UND (25 points; 8-1-0-1 in NCHC play) leads Denver (24 points; 7-1-1-1) by one point in the league standings with fourteen conference games remaining for each team. The two teams will square off in Grand Forks next weekend in the only scheduled series between the perennial powerhouses this season. Minnesota Duluth (21 points; 5-3-2-2) and Western Michigan (17 points; 5-4-1-0) are within striking distance, although it is worth noting that the Bulldogs have played two more league games than anyone else in the NCHC.
Western Michigan did the entire league a favor by defeating both #13 Boston College and #2 Wisconsin at the Holiday Faceoff two weeks ago. Those results added to the league’s already-impressive results against the other five conferences in college hockey.
So far this season, the NCHC has won nearly seventy percent of its non-conference games (60-29-2, .670) and has four teams (#4 North Dakota, #5 Minnesota Duluth, #6 Western Michigan, and #7 Denver positioned in the top ten in the latest rankings.
The NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past twelve seasons. The nine teams in the league have gone 600-310-81 (.646) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent fifteen teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, Denver and Duluth in 2019, Duluth and St. Cloud State in 2021, Denver in 2022 and 2024, and Denver and Western Michigan in 2025 over that nine-year stretch (there was no national tournament in 2020). Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017, 2022, 2024), Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019), and Western Michigan (2025) have won seven of the last nine national titles.
Colorado College Tigers
Head Coach: Kris Mayotte (5th season at CC, 69-86-12, .449)
National Rankings: NR/NR
NPI Ranking: 34th
KRACH Rating: 111.5 (30th)
This Season: 8-9-3 overall, 1-4-2-3 NCHC (7th of 9 teams)
Last Season: 18-18-1 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 7-11-5-1 NCHC (6th)
2025-26 Season Statistics:
Team Offense: 2.75 goals scored/game – 38th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 2.70 goals allowed/game – 25th of 63 teams
Power Play: 15.5% (11 of 71) – 48th of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 75.4% (52 of 69) – 51st of 63 teams
Key players: Sophomore F Owen Beckner (6-10-16), Sophomore F Gavin Lindberg (6-8-14), Junior F Bret Link (5-8-13), Junior F Klavs Veinbergs (6-5-11), Freshman F Brandon Lisowsky (4-7-11), Freshman F Wilson Bjorck (5-3-8 in fifteen games), Sophomore D Ryan Koering (1-4-5), Freshman D Colton Roberts (2-6-8), Sophomore D Fisher Scott (1-5-6), Senior G Kaidan Mbereko (8-8-3, 2.50 GAA, .910 SV%)
North Dakota Team Profile
Head Coach: Dane Jackson (1st season at North Dakota, 16-4-0, .800)
National Rankings: #4/#4
NPI Ranking: 2nd
KRACH Rating: 529.8 (2nd)
This Season: 16-4-0 overall, 8-1-0-1 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 21-15-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 11-8-4-1 NCHC (5th)
2025-26 Season Statistics:
Team Offense: 3.80 goals scored/game – 7th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 2.10 goals allowed/game – 7th of 63 teams
Power Play: 32.4% (24 of 74) – 1st of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 81.8% (54 of 66) – 29th of 63 teams
Key Players: Freshman F Cole Reschny (2-16-18), Senior F Ben Strinden (12-8-20), Freshman F Will Zellers (10-6-16), Senior F Dylan James (11-4-15), Sophomore F Mac Swanson (4-10-14), Freshman F Ollie Josephson (3-8-11), Senior F Ellis Rickwood (3-13-16), Junior D Jake Livanavage (3-15-18), Junior D Abram Wiebe (2-11-13), Freshman D Keaton Verhoeff (4-7-11), Freshman G Jan Spunar (10-0-0, 1.50 GAA, .936 SV%, 2 SO)
By The Numbers
Last Meeting: February 8, 2025 (Grand Forks, ND). North Dakota built a 2-0 lead over the first 41 minutes of the hockey game and survived a furious push from the Tigers in the final frame. CC drew within one on a goal from Grand Forks native Drew Montgomery but could not get the equalizer. Carter Wilkie iced things with an empty netter at the 18:37 mark, and the teams combined for 56 penalty minutes in the final 59 seconds of the hockey game. Colorado College won 30 of 52 faceoffs (57.7%) but went 0-for-4 with the man advantage. One night earlier, the Tigers won 6-4 in a wild contest marked by two extra attacker goals, two power play goals (both by CC), an empty-net goal, and four points from UND’s Dylan James. The ten combined goals were scored on just 47 shots on goal.
Last Meeting in Colorado Springs: February 17, 2024. North Dakota’s Cameron Berg put the visitors up 2-1 on a brilliant power play goal with just nine seconds remaining in the first period. It was all Tigers after that, however, as the home team scored once in the middle frame and four more times in the third. At the end of it all, CC led 6-2 on the scoreboard even though UND outshot Colorado College 45-32. One night earlier, it was even worse for the Hawks, as the Tigers went 4-for-5 on the power play in a 7-1 victory.
Most Important Meeting: March 27, 1997. UND defeated Colorado College, 6-2, in the Frozen Four Semifinals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Two nights later, North Dakota downed Boston University, 6-4, to claim its sixth NCAA Championship. North Dakota and Colorado College also met in the 2001 East Regional (Worcester, Mass.), with UND prevailing, 4-1.
All-time Series: UND leads the all-time series, 174-89-12 (.655), although Colorado College has a slight edge (62-61-5, .504) in games played in Colorado Springs. The teams first met in 1948; North Dakota’s 174 wins over the Tigers are the most against any single opponent in program history.
Last Ten: North Dakota is just 4-5-1 (.450) against the Tigers in the last ten meetings between the teams, with three wins and a tie from March 2022 through February 2023 followed by five consecutive losses (four of those during the 2023-2024 season). Over those ten games, UND scored a total of just 20 goals and allowed 29.
Game News and Notes
CC has won two national titles (1950, 1957). Since 1957, the Tigers have appeared in the NCAA tournament thirteen times (most recently in 2011) and advanced to three Frozen Fours (1996, 1997, 2005). Head coaches Scott Owens (1999-2014) and Don Lucia (1993-1999) combined to lead CC to six regular-season titles, twelve NCAA tournament appearances, three Frozen Fours, and one national championship game appearance (1996). UND’s 174 wins over CC are the most over a single opponent in the history of the program.
The Prediction
Colorado College has won just three games since October 18th after starting the season 5-1, while North Dakota has lost just once since Halloween (12-1-0). Despite UND’s advantages up and down the roster, strange things can and do happen at altitude. Head coach Dane Jackson will need to rely on depth and spread out the minutes among his impressive defensive corps in order to avoid overextending certain players. I’ve got the Fighting Hawks in the opener, with an overtime tilt on Saturday night. UND 5-2, CC 3-2 (OT).
Broadcast Information
Both games this weekend will be available online at NCHC.tv. Friday’s opener will also be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network. All UND men’s hockey games can be heard on stations across the Fighting Hawks Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app. Puck drop is set for 8:00 p.m. Central Time on Friday night and 7:00 p.m. Central Time on Saturday night.
Social Media
Keep up with the action live during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also read the action via Brad Schlossman’s live chat on the Grand Forks Herald website.
As always, thank you for reading. I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.