Colorado College exploded for seven of the first eight goals during the second half and then held on for an 11-9 victory in its season opener against Goucher College on Saturday afternoon.

Carson Christman ignited the 7-1 run with a pair of goals that tied the game at 5-5 midway through the third period, and then Steve Rijo and Jack Kreitler scored just 16 second apart to give the Tigers a two-goal lead with 6:10 remaining in the frame.

Zach Fratella struck for the second of his four goals to pull the Gophers to within 7-6, but CC answered 1:21 later with a man-up goal by Hunter Sprole off a feed from Christman.

Moses Taylor and Will Harris scored in a span of 12 seconds early in the fourth period as the Tigers built the largest lead of the game at 10-6 with 12:54 to play. Harris's goal was the first of his career and proved to be the game winner.

Fratella scored twice as Goucher countered with three straight goals to pull to within 10-9 with 5:10 to go, but CC's Zach Steedman made the two of his 12 saves on the ensuing possession and the Tigers added an open-net score with 1:18 to play to seal the victory.

The Gophers (1-4) used a pair of goals by Rory Averett to grab a 4-2 lead after 15 minutes, and each team scored just once in the second period to complete the low-scoring first half.

The Tigers launched a total of 37 shots, compared to 32 for GC. Connor Mishaw finished with 11 saves for the Gophers.

Colorado College had a 37-27 advantage in ground balls and committed five fewer turnovers.

Christman paced the Tigers with three goals and an assist. Rijo had a pair of goals and set up another, while Kreitler scored the first two goals of his career.

Chris Kolodey had a team-high five ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers, while Buck McKenna won 10 of 16 faceoffs for CC.

Fratella had four goals and an assist to lead the Goacher attack. The Gophers got four ground balls from Ralph Bilotta, Justin Dunn and Gavin Loney.

Colorado College plays at Swarthmore College on Sunday.