Men's Ice Hockey | February 01, 2018
THIS WEEK
The Western Michigan hockey team stays on the road and heads to National Collegiate Hockey Conference rival Miami for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday. Friday's game is slated for a 7:35 p.m. puck drop and Saturday for 7:05 p.m. Both games can be seen live on NCHC.tv and can be heard live on the Bronco Radio Network. Friday's game can be heard on 590 AM/106.9 FM and at wkzo.com.
LAST WEEKEND
WMU suffered just its second sweep of the season, falling at Omaha 6-2 and 7-3.
In Friday's loss the Broncos battled back from a 2-0 deficit to tie up the game after goals by
Neal Goff and
Austin Rueschhoff. The Mavericks netted a power play goal to take a 3-2 lead late in the third period. UNO added two empty-net goals and another power play goal to finish off the game.
On Saturday, Western Michigan took a 1-0 lead on a power play goal by
Dawson DiPietro. Omaha responded with four-straight goals to take a 4-1 lead before
Cam Orchard's first collegiate goal cut the lead in half to 4-2 at 8:41 in the second period. Tyler Vesel scored a short-handed goal and then an even-strength goal to open the third period to push the lead to 6-2. The teams traded goals late in the third, with
Josh Passolt scoring for the Broncos.
THE MIAMI REDHAWKS
• THE SERIES: The series with Miami dates back to 1979 and is one of the tightest. The RedHawks hold a 67-62-11 edge over the Broncos. Previously the teams split in Kalamazoo back in December. MU took the first game of the series, 5-2, but WMU struck back in overtime in the second game, 4-3.
• SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS, AGAIN: Since beating the Broncos back on Dec. 8, the RedHawks have won just one other game, a 4-3 victory over Denver. MU, currently sitting in last place in the NCHC, is currently on a five game winless streak, going 0-4-1.
Sophomore forward Gordie Green leads the team in goals (10), assists (15) and points (25). Green is the only RedHawk with double-digit goals, but Miami has four players with at least eight goals. Senior Louie Belpedio is the top scorer from the blue line with 24 points on eight goals and 14 assists. The team averages 3.12 goals per game overall and 3.00 in conference play.
Miami allows 3.42 goals per game overall and 3.86 in conference play. Sophomore Ryan Larkin has started every game in net for the RedHawks with a 9-11-3 record, a 3.13 goals against average and an .885 save percentage.
Miami's power play is the best in the nation at 27.8 percent (30-for-108). Junior defenseman Grant Hutton leads the team with seven of his nine goals coming on the power play. Belpedio sits just behind him with five, while four others have three on the season. The penalty kill sits at 77.8 percent (84-for-108).
SELFISH, BUT IN A GOOD WAY
WMU's freshmen class seems to like shooting more than it does passing. The group has tallied 24 goals and just 14 assists.
Austin Rueschhoff is the top-scoring newcomer with 12 points on nine goals and three assists.
Josh Passolt has six goals and just one assist, while
Paul Washe has five goals and two assists.
Ethen Frank has the most assists out of anyone in the freshmen class, with four.
MOST IMPROVED
Currently, sophomore
Dawson DiPietro is the second-most improved player in the nation. DiPietro has a +26 point differential from last season. DiPietro put up one point, an assist, during his freshman season and is currently tied for second on the team with 27 on 11 goals and 16 assists. DiPietro only sits behind Colorado College's Nick Halloran, who is +30 from last season.
KEEP ON ROLLING
WMU's power play has been white-hot as of lately, scoring goals in each of the last seven games and nine of the last 11. During the 11-game stretch the team has gone 18-for-56 (32.1 percent). In eight of the 11 games the Broncos have netted at least two power play goals.
Dawson DiPietro,
Corey Schueneman,
Hugh McGing and
Austin Rueschhoff each have three goals during the run.
