It truly was a step up in competition for No. 5 Colorado College Friday night and for the Tigers, it was a little too much to manage before an announced crowd of 7,672 fans at World Arena.

No. 2 Denver’s veteran forwards capitalized on two of their scoring chances in the first two periods, unlike the less-experienced Tigers, and held on for a 2-1 win in a battle for first place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

“We played decently,” Tigers coach Scott Owens said. “We had a lot of opportunities, especially in the second period but we couldn’t capitalize on them. They’re a veteran group over there and at times we looked young. But we had a chance to win it at the end.”

The teams meet again at Magness Arena, at 7:07 p.m. tonight for Game 2 of the four-game series for the Gold Pan trophy. It was Denver’s first victory over Colorado College (10-4-1, 7-3-1 WCHA) since a 3-2 overtime win on Nov. 24, 2007.

CC had a chance to win it because its power play, rated No. 2 in the nation coming into the weekend, finally resembled its usual self early in the third period.

Nate Prosser’s power-play goal with 17:40 left made it 2-1 and energized the crowd for a time. But Denver’s defense was too tough, especially with a trap in place, and CC was unable to tie the game.

Throughout, Denver sophomore goalie Marc Cheverie showed why he is one of the best in the nation as CC failed to capitalize on its chances in the first 40 minutes. He turned aside a 2-on-1 CC chance late in the second and stood strong on another breakaway by Tigers junior Tyler Johnson moments after Denver (10-4-1, 8-2-1) went up 2-0 with 17:01 left in the second period.

“He’s as good as they come at our level,” Owens said.

Pioneers senior captain Rhett Rakhshani scored the game-winner on a pass from Tyler Ruegsegger, who scored the opening goal in the first.

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