COLORADO SPRINGS - Colorado College probably wishes Minnesota's Evan Kaufmann had taken one more week to rest his ailing knees.

Kaufmann had not played in 2007 and missed the previous 10 games because of chronic soreness in both knees, yet the junior forward hardly looked hobbled Friday against the Tigers.

Kaufmann scored two goals in the third period, including the deciding tally with 4 minutes, 25 seconds remaining, to lift the second-ranked Golden Gophers to a 3-2 win against No. 14 Colorado College in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association showdown at the World Arena.

It was the third loss of the season for CC against the Gophers, who will aim for a sweep of the regular-season series tonight (7; tape delay telecast on FSN Rocky Mountain at 9 p.m.).

Kaufmann's winner occurred on a breakaway after he received a long lead pass from defenseman R.J. Anderson. CC goaltender Matt Zaba got his glove on the shot, but the puck deflected off his helmet before caroming into the net.

"We know we played pretty well (Friday) and we could have won that game at the end," said CC freshman Billy Sweatt, whose goal at the 13:45 mark of the third tied the score 2-2.

"We have to get back at it and refocus for (tonight) and, hopefully, we can pull it out."

The loss was damaging for CC in its drive for home ice in the WCHA playoffs and a bid for the NCAA tournament. The Tigers entered the game in fourth-place in the WCHA but lost an opportunity to overtake third-place DU, which is idle, and gain ground on second- place St. Cloud State, which lost at Wisconsin.

In the national picture, CC entered the game ranked 11th in the PairWise poll, and the team's stature on the NCAA bubble only grew murkier.

"We still have a lot of games left," CC coach Scott Owens said. "We're going to be a bubble team until the very end."

The teams traded power- play goals in the first period, with Jay Barriball putting the Gophers ahead with a goal at 13:33 and CC's Chad Rau answering with his 10th goal of the season 3:08 later.

Minnesota outshot the Tigers 32-17 and limited CC's opportunities throughout the contest. Known for its prolific offense, the Gophers entered the game ranked sixth in the nation in scoring defense and limited the Tigers to only 32 shots during their two wins against CC in October.

Minnesota goaltender Kellen Briggs, a Colorado Springs native, needed to make only 15 saves to pick up his 80th win, three short of Minnesota's all- time record.

"Their goals-against is unbelievable because they gather the puck, they collect it and they're gone," Owens said. "It's tough to get after them."

Gophers 3, Tigers 2

Minnesota......1	0	2	-	3
Colorado College......1	0	1	-	2

First period - 1, UM, Barriball 15 (Vannelli 20, Gordon 15), pp, 13:33; 2, CC, Rau 10 (Connelly 14, Cox 6), pp, 16:41; Penalties - Gannon, CC (interference), 5:52; Straub, CC (hooking), 13:09; O'Brien, UM (cross checking), 16:20; Peltier, UM (obstruction hooking), 18:15.

Second period - No scoring. Penalties - Bostrom, UM (roughing), 19:49; Vlassopoulos, CC (obstruction holding), 19:49; Okposo, CC (obstruction tripping), 20:00.

Third period - 3, UM, Kaufmann 5 (O'Brien 5, Peltier 7), 4:27; 4, CC, B. Sweatt 8 (Cox 7), 13:45; 5, CC, Kaufmann 6 (Anderson 5), 15:35. Penalties - Straub, CC (interference), 9:25; Peltier, UM (roughing), 11:31; B. Sweatt, CC (roughing), 11:31; Cox, CC (holding the stick), 19:54.

Shots - UM, 11-7-14-32; CC, 6-4-7-17. Saves - UM (Briggs 15); CC (Zaba 29). Power play - UM, 1-for-4; CC, 1-for-3. A - 7,790.

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