Box Score

KALAMAZOO -- Riley Gill opened the new year by posting his career-leading eight shutout as the Western Michigan Broncos and No. 9/10 Bemidji State Beavers skated to a 0-0 tie in front of 1,679 fans at Lawson Ice Arena.

In a battle between two hot goalies, neither team could come out on top with Gill making 29 saves and BSU's Dan Bakala making a game-high 31.

The game was back-and-forth with both teams pushing hard to get down the ice. The Beavers outshot the Broncos 11-8 in the first period, but WMU got the best of them in the second, 12-10, and the third, 8-5. Both teams got off three shots each during the five-minute overtime period.

J.J. Crew led all Broncos with five shots on net and had many from between the circles. Sophomore forward Ian Slater also pressured Bakala, firing off four shots. Although defenseman Mike Levendusky did not land a shot on net, he did his part on the defensive end, taking five of Western Michigan's 10 blocked shots on the night. This was the first scoreless tie that WMU has been a part of since Dec. 17, 2005, when the Broncos and Northern Michigan took it 65 minutes without lighting the lamp.

Western Michigan did defeat Bemidji State in the exhibition shootout that proceeded the game. Max Campbell and Crew each tallied for WMU and Gill stopped two-of-three Bemidji chances.

The Broncos and Beavers battle it out for WMU's final non-conference game of the season on Sunday afternoon at 4:35 p.m.