COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. ? Junior winger Scott McCulloch's goal late in the first period held up as the game's only tally as 12th-ranked Colorado College edged the 20th-ranked Fighting Sioux 1-0 tonight in front of 7,146 fans at the Colorado Springs World Arena.
The Sioux, now 9-11-1 overall and 5-9-1 in WCHA play, dropped their fifth straight conference game despite a spectacular, 31-save performance by UND junior goalie Philippe Lamoureux (Grand Forks).
McCulloch's goal, his team-leading 15th of the season, came during a first period in which UND dominated much the play with a strong territorial advantage and outshot the Tigers 12-9.
But McCulloch gave the Tigers all the offense they would need when he gathered a Lamoureux rebound in the right faceoff circle near the hash marks and buried it past the sprawled netminder.
CC had several opportunites to extend the lead in the second period, particularly during a five-minute power-play the Tigers received when UND sophomore forward Matt Watkins (Aylesbury, Sask.) received a major and a game misconduct for checking from behind.
But the Sioux penalty killers managed to kill the power-play, keyed by two marvelous saves by Lamoureux, first off of Jimmy Kilpatrick at the side of the net midway through the major, then off of Chad Rau all alone in front of the net as the final seconds ticked off of Watkins' penalty.
UND pressured CC goalie Matt Zaba with 28 shots in the game, but were unable to crack the senior netminder, who earned his 50th career victory. UND's best chance in the third period came with just over 10 minutes remaining, as junior forward Rylan Kaip (Wilcox, Ask.) set up Erik Fabian (Sr., Roseau, Minn.) on the doorstep, but Zaba stoned UND's assistant captain to preserve the 1-0 score.
The Sioux pulled Lamoureux for an extra attacker for the game's final 94 seconds but could not come up with the equalizer.
Lamoureux falls to 6-9-0 with the loss, while Zaba improves to 10-4-1.
The two teams conclude the two-game series tomorrow night at 8:07 p.m. CST.
Notes: Lamoureux's 31 saves were a personal season high ... Tonight marked the first time UND was shut out since a 1-0 loss at Wisconsin on Oct. 14 ... UND senior forward Chris Porter (Thunder Bay, Ont.) played in his 153rd consecutive career game, extending the longest current streak in NCAA hockey.
