Men's Ice Hockey | November 30, 2017
THIS WEEK
The Western Michigan hockey resumes National Collegiate Hockey Conference play, heading on the road to take on No. 6 North Dakota on Friday and Saturday. Friday's puck drop is at 8:37 p.m. and Saturday's is at 8:07 p.m. Both games can be watched live on NCHC.tv and heard live on the Bronco Radio Network.
LAST WEEK
The Broncos took on No. 18 Colgate, splitting with the Raiders after a 5-3 win and a 5-1 loss.
In Friday's game CU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead but the first of two Wade Allison goals tied it up at 1-1. Midway through the first period Colgate's Paul McAvoy scored to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead that they would hold into the second period. Allison netted his second of the night just 53 seconds into the second period to tie it up. At 7:42 Josh Passolt scored his fourth of the season to give the Broncos a 3-2 lead. A power play goal by Adam Dauda tied it up at 3-3, but Lawton Courtnall netted the game-winner with 21 seconds left in the second period to give WMU a 4-3 lead. Dawson DiPietro added a power play goal in the third period to seal the win.
On Saturday Colgate jumped out to a 4-0 lead on the back of a hat trick by Bobby McMann and the Broncos never recovered. CU scored three in the first period and then McMann finished off his hat trick early in the second period. Austin Rueschhoff got one back for WMU but the team was held at bay and the Raiders added a late power play goal to finish off the game 5-1.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA || 8-4-4, 3-2-1-1 NCHC
- THE SERIES: North Dakota leads the all-time series 16-4-0 but the Broncos went 3-1-0 against the Fighting Hawks last season, including the program's first sweep over UND. Two of the four series wins have come at The Ralph for the Broncos. Wade Allison leads all scorers against North Dakota with four points on two goals and two assists in four career games. Sophomore goalie Ben Blacker is 3-0-0 in three starts and four appearances against UND. Blacker sports a 1.75 goals against average and a .952 save percentage.
- SCOUTING THE FIGHTING HAWKS: North Dakota had a six-game unbeaten streak snapped two weeks ago at Denver and is currently winless in its last three. After the 4-1 loss to the Pioneers the Fighting Hawks hosted Union last weekend, falling to the Dutchmen 4-1 and then tying 2-2. UND sits in third place in the NCHC standings with 11 points on three wins and a shootout win, four points behind leaders Western Michigan. The Fighting Hawks have not won back-to-back games in the NCHC so far this season.
North Dakota ranks 28th in the nation in scoring at 2.81 goals per game, rising to 3.33 in conference play. No player on the team has more than five goals through the first 16 games of the season, but UND boasts six with at least four. Christian Wolanin, Nick Jones, and Shane Gersich each have five, while Brant Mismash, Colton Poolman and Collin Adams each have four. Twelve of the team's 45 goals have come from defensemen, led by Wolanin and Poolman. Wolanin leads the team with 13 points and has a team-best eight assists to go with his five goals.
Defensively, the Fighting Hawks are one of the best in the nation and have held opponents to 2.19 goals per game, ranking tied for seventh in the country. In NCHC play they have allowed 3.00 goals per game so far. Freshman Peter Thome stepped in after starter Cam Johnson suffered and injury, starting in eight games to post a 3-2-3 record with .907 save percentage and a 2.65 goals against average. Johnson, who has recovered from his injury, has a 5-2-1 record, a 1.63 goals against average and a .925 save percentage.
UND's power play ranks 25th in the nation, scoring on 13-of-65 (20.7 percent) chances. Wolanin leads the team with three power play tallies, while Jones, Adams and Rhett Gardner each have two. The Fighting Hawks' penalty kill ranks seventh in the nation, killing off 59-of-67 (88.1 percent).
THE FIRST 15
WMU lost a significant portion of its offense over the off season with the departures of Sheldon Dries, Matheson Iacopelli, Griffen Molino and Frederik Tiffels. However, through the first 15 games of the season the 2017-18 Bronco hockey team are better off in almost every facet. WMU's overall and NCHC record is better, 9-5-1/5-2-0 compared to 7-5-3/3-5-1. The offensive and defense outputs are also better. The current team has scored 55 goals and conceded 42, while the 2016-17 had scored 52 and let in 46.
REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER
Western Michigan finished the month of November with a 6-2-0 record. The Broncos posted the most wins out of any school in the NCHC and tied with St. Cloud State for the fewest losses. WMU averaged 4.1 goals per game and had four of its six wins against nationally ranked opponents, including a sweep of No. 1 Denver. Sophomore forward Wade Allison led all Broncos with eight goals, while fellow sophomore Hugh McGing led the team with eight assists.
BACK TO LAWSON
WMU returns next week to Lawson Ice Arena for the final time of 2017, hosting the Miami RedHawks next Friday and Saturday. The Broncos are 8-2-1 at home this season, including 4-0-0 in NCHC play. Tickets are available now by calling 1-888-4-WMUTIX and online at wmubroncos.com/tickets.
