Box score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Western Michigan's hockey team played its annual Brown & Gold intrasquad scrimmage this afternoon, with Brown coming out on top by a 3-1 margin. Freshmen played a large role in the outcome of the game for the Brown team, as goaltender Jerry Kuhn turned aside 14 shots and carried a shutout late into the third period while Adam Flink netted a pair of goals and Ryan Watson tallied the first goal of the contest just 53 seconds in.
“I'm pleased about what we saw today. We've only had six hours of practice and what we wanted to go in and accomplish was first of all for no one to get hurt, and no one got injured. We played with a lot of energy that we were looking for and competed real hard and it was good to get their juices flowing for a good year,” head coach Jim Culhane said.
Brown took possession of the puck at the outset and set up in the offensive zone, with senior Mike Lesperance setting up a shot by Jordan Collins. Sophomore goaltender Riley Gill moved laterally to his right and made the save, but the rebound bounced directly to Watson on the right wing, who tapped it into the empty net before Gill could recover to put Brown up 1-0.
In the second period Flink extended the advantage to 2-0 with help from junior Patrick Galivan and sophomore Julian Zamparo at 14:16. Flink registered his second goal of the game at 2:34 of the third, converting on the power play with assistance from sophomore Chirs Clackson.
Kuhn lost the shutout bid at 4:30 of the third when he came out of the net to play the puck and sophomore Cam Watson intercepted his clearing attempt near the blueline. Watson skated in alone and although two Brown defenders got back and attempted to block his shot, he lifted the puck over both of them for Gold's lone score of the game.
Kuhn stopped 14 shots to earn the win in 40:00 minutes of play while Gill made 11 saves in 30:00 minutes in suffering the loss. Freshman Matthew Federico played the final 10:00 minutes in net for Gold, turning aside four shots.
Western Michigan hosts Windsor in an exhibition game at Lawson Ice Arena next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Admission is just $5 for all seats. The Broncos open the regular season the following weekend, hosting a two-game series against Bentley Friday and Saturday, Oct. 19-20.
