Men's Ice Hockey | March 09, 2017

THIS WEEK
Western Michigan hosts Omaha in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Quarterfinals on Friday, Saturday and Sunday if necessary. All games are set for 7 p.m. starts and can be seen live on NCHC.tv and heard live on the Bronco Radio Network. 

LAST WEEK
WMU wrapped up the 2016-17 regular season splitting with No.2 Minnesota-Duluth at home. 

On Friday, senior captain Sheldon Dries recorded his first collegiate hat trick and Griffen Molino had a career-high four assists in a 7-4 win over the Bulldogs. The Broncos jumped out to a 5-1 lead and held off a late charge by UMD. Hugh McGing, Luke Bafia, Lawton Courtnall and Frederik Tiffels also tallied on the night for Western Michigan.

On Saturday, Minnesota-Duluth bested WMU on senior night with a 6-3 win. The Broncos went down early, 2-1, but fought back after goals by Matheson Iacopelli and Courtnall to tie it up at 2-2. UMD answered with three straight goals before Molino tallied to cut the lead to 5-3. Alex Iafallo added an empty-net goal with 56 seconds left. 

AT A GLANCE: OMAHA MAVERICKS // 16-15-5
• HOW THEY GOT HERE: Omaha had a rough stretch during the five final weeks of the regular season, going 2-7-1. The Mavericks finished in sixth place after a 9-13-2-0 record in NCHC play, earning 29 points. UNO finished just two points out of fifth place behind St. Cloud State. 

• THE SERIES: Omaha leads the all-time series 21-13-6 after a split in Omaha back in February. This is the first-ever postseason matchup between the two teams, even dating back to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association days. 

• SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS, AGAIN: Omaha boasts the 13th ranked offense in the nation, averaging 3.25 goals per game. UNO has six players with at least 10 goals this season, led by senior Austin Ortega and his 19. David Pope is second on the team with 13, Tyler Vesel has 12 and Luc Snuggered, Fredrik Olofsson and Justin Parizek all have 11. Ortega also has 26 assists for 45 total points, tied for 10th in the nation. Snuggerud is the team's top scoring defenseman. In addition to his 11 goals he also has 20 assists for 31 points. Senior blue-liner Ian Brady has three goals and 18 assists. 

Defensively Omaha ranks 48th in the nation at 3.33 goals allowed per game. Sophomore Evan Weninger has seen the majority of the time in net for the Mavericks. Weninger has a 10-9-4 record with a .907 save percentage and a 2.99 goals against average. Backup goalie Kris Oldham has made 10 appearances with a 5-3-1 record, a 3.38 goals against average and a .895 save percentage.

Omaha's power play is one of the best in the nation, ranking sixth overall at 23.6 percent (42-of-178). Vesel, Snuggerud and Pope all have seven power play goals to lead the team. Ortega, Oloffson and Parizek each have four. UNO's penalty kill ranks 53rd in the nation at 77.4 percent (127-of-164).

POST-SEASON NOTES
• Western Michigan is 10-10 overall in the post season (including the NCAA Tournament) under head coach Andy Murray. 

• This is the first time WMU has hosted a playoff series since 2013 when it hosted Michigan in the CCHA Quarterfinals. 

• WMU's third-place finish to earn home ice advantage in the NCHC Playoffs. It's the highest finish for the Broncos in the NCHC and their first time hosting. 

• According to College Hockey News the Broncos have a 35.5 percent chance of being a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a 61 percent chance to earn a No. 2 seed. Either would be a program-high for the NCAA Tournament. 

RED HOT
The line of Griffen Molino, Sheldon Dries and Matheson Iacopelli have been red hot the second half of the season. In the past eight games alone, the line has combined for 18 goals and 21 assists for 39 points. One of the three has tallied a point 12 of the 16 games since the 3-0 win over No. 1 Denver on Jan. 13. In total the trio have 23 goals and 23 assists for 46 points in the second half of the season.