CANTON, N.Y. -- Two goals in 42 seconds helped the Western Michigan hockey team win its fourth straight contest with a 3-1 victory at St. Lawrence in front of 1,521 fans at Appleton Arena on Friday night.

Western Michigan (4-1-0) got off to a hot start, scoring their first of two goals in the first period at the 4:51 mark. The Broncos were on the power play and some clever cycling of the puck led to a Matt Tennyson goal from the left circle. Tennyson was all alone in the circle and Dennis Brown found him for his second goal of the season. Brown tallied his second assist and Shane Berschbach also picked up a helper.

WMU took a 2-0 lead just 42 seconds later. Mike Levendusky broke up possession for St. Lawrence in the neutral zone and passed the puck to Derek Roehl. Roehl skated away around the Saints' defense and into the slot, beating SLU goalie Matt Wenniger for his first of the season.

St. Lawrence took one back with 1:03 remaining in the period. Kyle Essery fired a shot on net and a scrum ensued for the rebound but it was poked in by Jacob Drewiske to cut the lead, 2-1. SLU nearly tied the game as the buzzer sounded but a rebound that was put in the net by Kyle Flanagan was just a second too late as time had expired.

The two teams would battle for the next two periods without seeing a goal until the final minute. The Saints were pressuring and overtook the Broncos in shots, finishing with a 28-23 advantage. But St. Lawrence gambled and pulled their goalie with a minute remaining. Luke Witkowski cleared the puck but it took a deflection off of a linesman and bounced right to Ian Slater. Slater fired from the blue-line and into the net for the nail in the coffin. The empty-netter was the second of the year for WMU's captain. Max Campbell also picked up an assist along with Witkowski on the final goal.

WMU goalie Nick Pisellini stopped 27 of 28 shots on the night for his fourth win of the season and WMU's fourth straight win.

The Broncos and Saints battle it out again on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.