KALAMAZOO, Mich -- The Western Michigan hockey team defeated No. 12 Michigan State, 3-1, in front of a sellout crowd of 4,017 fans at Lawson Ice Arena on Saturday night to complete the sweep of the Spartans.
The Broncos (6-2-2, 2-1-1-0 CCHA) took a 1-0 lead at the 16:07 mark after Michigan State (3-2-3, 1-2-1-0 CCHA) Drew Palmisano attempted to clear the puck but threw it directly into
Ryan Watson's chest and it bounced into an open net. The unassisted goal was Watson's third of the season.
The lead didn't last long as Michigan State capitalized on its first power play of the night. Senior winger Dustin Gazley took a pass from Torey Krugg and skated into the right circle. Gazley unleashed a quick wrist shot that beat WMU goalie
Nick Pisellini on his stick side for his third goal of the season. Krugg, who played for WMU head coach
Jeff Blashill with the Indiana Ice in the USHL, tallied his fifth assist of the season and Greg Wolfe also tallied a helper.
Sophomore
Ben Warda netted the game-winner 12:03 into the second period.
Trevor Elias fired a shot on net and Palmisano made the save but didn't control the puck. Warda picked up the rebound, spun and fired it into the net for his first career goal as a Bronco. Warda played his freshman season (2008-09) with Michigan State before transfering to Western Michigan a year later. Elias and
Greg Squires each tallied assists on the game-winner.
Michigan State pressed in the third period outshooting the Broncos. WMU killed off over two minutes of penalties that reduced them to just three men on the ice. MSU had a four-on-three and five-on-three advantage during the period but the Bronco penalty kill held strong.
With the goalie pulled and just over a minute remaining
Max Campbell won a faceoff in the Brown & Gold zone, pushing the puck to
Danny DeKeyser. DeKeyser passed it to Elias, who chipped it ahead for Campbell. Campbell raced to just in front of the blue line before chipping it into an empty net to the nail in the coffin to make it 3-1.
Pisellini made 19 saves on the night while Palmisano made 21. This is the first time the Broncos have swept Michigan State since Feb. 16-17, 2007.
The crowd was the largest since Jan. 20, 2007 when the Broncos drew 3,944 fans to watch WMU battle No. 3 Notre Dame.
Western Michigan is off next week before traveling to Ferris State on Nov. 19 and 20.
