The groans, exhortations to shoot, occasional boos and overall silence from the crowd when Colorado College went of the power play in the second and third periods Saturday drove the point home.

The Tigers are struggling on offense, which is not a formula for success, especially in the stacked National Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Visiting 16th-ranked Western Michigan took full advantage , beating Colorado College 4-0 on Saturday.

The Tigers had eight power plays to the Broncos’ six, a pair of 5-on-3 advantages, and the only major penalty of the contest, but had no goals to show for it.

“That’s about as disappointing (a performance) since being here,” Colorado College coach Kris Mayotte said.

Colorado College and Western Michigan ended the first 20 minutes of play scoreless. Then things began to unravel for the Tigers in the middle frame. After outshooting the Broncos 16-9 in the first period, Colorado College had just three shots in the second during which the Tigers went on four power plays. They included a five-minute major combined with a 5-on-3.

“We couldn’t take advantage

of opportunities. We started losing battles all over the place,” Mayotte said. “We have a 5-on-3 and we lose the faceoff, and we lose a battle in the corner. We have five they have three. They win the battle, it gets down and that was (basically the start) of the unraveling. Because if you can’t win battles, it’s hard to keep confidence. We just got outworked.”

On the opposing side, Western Michigan made the most of its power plays, scoring on two in the second period. Defenseman Zak Galambos scored at 1:52 with a shot from the left circle. Winger Dylan Wendt scored from the slot at 11:47, the culmination of strong puck movement from the Broncos. Forward Luke Grainger passed from the top of the right circle to defenseman Sam Sjolund next to the net, who found Wendt.

Wendt scored his second goal of the game and second empty-netter of the series at 16:31. Grainger tacked on Western Michigan’s fourth at

“We have a 5-on-3 and we lose the faceoff, and we lose a battle in the corner. We have five they have three. They win the battle, it gets down and that was (basically the start) of the unraveling. Because if you can’t win battles, it’s hard to keep confidence.”

Kris Mayotte, Colorado College coach

18:27, again from great puck movement. That final score was the only goal the Broncos got in 5-on-5 play Saturday. Grainger, the senior captain and points leader for the Broncos, was involved in all seven of the team’s scores this weekend.

“In this league, 5-on-5 is tight. It’s hard to score 5-on5,” Mayotte said. “I didn’t see it as a 5-on-5 issue. As it went on, clearly frustration set in and it became a 5-on-5 issue. But that wasn’t the issue. We were good 5-on-5. They scored two power play goals in the second period, we get one shot on four opportunities in the second period.”

The Tigers had a pair of defensive highlights in the first period.

Goalie Kaidan Mbereko made a huge save for the Tigers around the 15-minute mark with Western Michigan skating into the offensive zone with a 3-on-2 advantage. He finished the game with 21 saves.

Later in the period, freshman defenseman Tyler Dunbar chased down a Western Michigan defenseman on a breakaway off a Colorado College turnover and denied the shot opportunity.

Colorado College now sits at 7-5 overall on the season and 2-4 in the NCHC. While the Tigers won’t play a game next week for the Thanksgiving holiday, they’ll be hard at work, Mayotte said.

“We’ll practice every day but Thursday,” he said. “We got a lot of work to do. It’s not a time to take a break.”