Colorado College savors step forward, but wants NCAA bid

COLORADO SPRINGS — When Colorado College goaltender Kaidan Mbereko skated out for warmups at Magness Arena in the final installment of the Gold Pan rivalry earlier this month, there was an interesting message waiting for him.

Someone was standing in the front row, directly behind Mbereko’s net, with a white sign that read, “No. 30’s washed, just like his brother.” Mbereko noted the sign, but also knew the person behind it. Mbereko’s older brother, Zak, is a University of Denver student. The creator of the sign was one of Zak’s friends.

“I’ve got a DM from the guy with a picture of my brother, him and the sign,” Kaidan said. “It was a funny moment.”

Both of the Mbereko brothers will be rooting for the same team this weekend, as the lines in a heated college hockey rivalry will be blurred Friday night. Colorado College has taken a huge step forward in Kris Mayotte’s third year in charge of the program, but needs some help.

The Tigers have leapt from winning nine games in Mayotte’s first season to the brink of the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011. They are currently 14th in the NCAA Pairwise rankings, and squarely on the bubble for a 16-team tournament that will definitely include two automatic qualifiers from well outside the top of the rankings.

One of the other teams on the bubble is St. Cloud State at No. 16. The Huskies play Friday night against DU in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. Step one for the Tigers’ NCAA dreams to come true this weekend is for the Pioneers to knock out St. Cloud State.

“It’s going to be crazy,” CC’s leading scorer Noah Laba said. “We’ve got our Denver hats, our Boston College and Quinnipiac hats on. We’re rooting for those guys. It’s that time of year, so we’re crossing our fingers and hoping we get another shot.”

Mayotte took over a proud program with a distinct lack of recent success. Selling tradition from before most of these players were born is hard. Selling the chance to play in Ed Robson Arena, which opened in Mayotte’s first year and is a state-of-the-art shrine to college hockey, helps a lot.

The freshman class from last season, which featured Mbereko and Laba, was a building block. The group in its first season, led by Zaccharya Wisdom, is another. CC’s top five scorers and Mbereko are all from those two classes.

“We have the best goalie in the country, I believe,” said Mayotte, who was named the NCHC coach of the year Thursday. “That’s obviously a huge piece. It puts you in every game. It keeps you in every game. It allows our team to go after the game. When your team has a goalie you trust, it doesn’t feel like they have to be perfect and you can take some risks.

“Our depth scoring has been way better. Our top line has been phenomenal. This is probably the first time we’ve had a top line that can score with anybody’s top guys. And our ability to win faceoffs has been top five in the country, top team in the league. When you have a goalie as good as ours and you start with the puck most of the time, that’s kind of been our recipe.”