COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Western Michigan hockey team gave up two goals in the third period to surrender a 1-0 lead, falling to Colorado College, 2-1, on the road at Broadmoor World Arena on Friday night.

The loss means that WMU (14-17-2, 9-13-1-0 NCHC) can no longer finish in the top four of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings and will be on the road for the NCHC Playoffs next weekend.

Freshman goalie Austin Cain made 21 saves on the night for the Broncos, but was out-dueled by CC's Alex Leclerc, who made 33. WMU's lone goal came from freshman forward Austin Rueschhoff. The Broncos outshot the Tigers 34-23 on the night but were held scoreless on their two power plays.

WMU took a 1-0 lead early in the first period on Rueschhoff's 10th of the season. Josh Passolt had the puck in the right circle and passed it through traffic to the left circle. Rueschhoff picked up the puck and fired it past Leclerc.

The Broncos had a few rushes in the second period to try and extend the lead, including a 2-on-0 rush that Leclerc stopped Hugh McGing on.

A turnover in the offensive zone by the Broncos led to Mason Bergh's game-tying goal at 9:42 in the third period. A WMU forward tried to center the puck but there were no Broncos in the slot. Trey Bradley picked up the errant puck and dished it off to Nick Halloran. Halloran then found Bergh in the slot for the one-timer.

The game-winner came at 17:10 in the third period by Colorado College's Cole McCaskill. CC won a faceoff in the neutral zone after penalties were called on both teams, creating four-on-four hockey. Halloran took the puck into the WMU zone and into the corner, then finding McCaskill in the slot for the one-timer.

WMU wraps up the regular season on Saturday night against Colorado College at 8:07 p.m. The game can be seen live on NCHC.tv and heard online at z965fm.com.