SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The Western Michigan hockey team dropped its first game since the season-opener, 3-2, at No. 13/11 Notre Dame on Friday night in front of a sellout crowd at the Joyce Center to open up Central Collegiate Hockey Association play.
The Broncos got off to a fast start, pressuring Notre Dame early.
Ryan Watson had a chance early in the first period with Notre Dame goalie Steven Summerhays face-down on the ice but he couldn't get the puck high enough and Summerhays covered. At one point in the period the Broncos were outshooting Notre Dame 9-0 before penalties derailed WMU's momentum.
WMU took four penalties in succession, even going down five-on-three for one minute. The Broncos not only killed off all four of the Fighting Irish's power plays, but did so holding them to just three shots on goal.
Despite outshooting Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish struck first in the second period. Kevin Lind found David Gerths in the right circle and Gerths snuck it under WMU goalie
Nick Pisellini's glove side to give Notre Dame a 1-0 lead.
The lead didn't last long as
Chase Balisy opened up his collegiate hockey scoring account at the 12:52 mark in the second period.
Kyle O'Kane poked the puck ahead to Balisy as he skated down the slot to beat Summerhays with a back-hand for his first collegiate goal. O'Kane picked up his first assist of the season as the Broncos squared the game at 1-1.
Gerths struck again for the Fighting Irish 6:26 into the third period. Jeff Costello threw a centering pass into the crease and it deflected in off of Gerths for his second of the night. Costello and Stephen Johns tallied assists as Notre Dame took 2-1 lead.
Again, the Broncos didn't take long to tie the game. After a Notre Dame penalty, the Brown & Gold were on their third power play of the night.
Dennis Brown cycled the puck to Matt Tennsyson at the left point. Tennsyon's blast went wide left but the puck bounced off the boards and straight to
Shane Berschbach on the right side of the net. Berschbach spun and fired it into the net for his first collegiate goal.
The Broncos took another costly penalty and the Fighting Irish, handing them their eighth power play of the night. Notre Dame took full advantage when Ryan Guentzel found freshman Anders Lee at the right side of the net for the one-timer. The game-winning goal was the fifth of the season for Lee, with Guentzel earning his eighth assist and Ben Ryan picking up his sixth helper.
Western Michigan hosts Notre Dame on Saturday night at 7:35 p.m. for their conference home-opener.
