KALAMAZOO -- Dane Walters led the charge with two goals in the second period as the 13th ranked Western Michigan Hockey team downed Bowling Green, 3-1, in front of a crowd of 3,314 fans at Lawson Ice Arena on Friday night.
The Broncos also picked up goals Greg Squires and Shane Berschbach on the night. The win, combined with Miami's loss to Northern Michigan and Ohio State's loss at Lake Superior puts Western Michigan in sole possession of first place in the CCHA by one point over the Buckeyes. Frank Slubowski made 20 stops on the night while his counterpart with Bowling Green, Andrew Hammond, made 29, including 17 in the first period.
After a scoreless first period in which the Broncos outshot the Falcons 17-6, they finally drew first blood at 9:20 of the second period. Walters won the faceoff on the power play back to Matt Tennyson and Tennyson sent the puck back to the junior assistant captain, who fired it through Hammond's legs for his 11th goal of the season.
WMU pushed the lead to 2-0 on a goal in transition just 4:09 later. J.J. Crew deked to create his own shot and fired it off of Hammond's left leg but Squires came flying in to punch it in for his third goal of the season.
Just under two minutes later at 15:16 Walters lit the lamp for his second of the night and 12th of the year. Walters took a pass from Chase Balisy and skated into the deep slot before sending it high glove side and into the net. Balisy tallied his 16th assist of the season and Berschbach tallied his team-leading 16th. Berschbach has seven assists in his last five games for the Broncos.
Bowling Green answered just over a minute later at 16:53 in the 2nd period when Cameron Sinclair got in alone in front of the crease and punched in a feed from Marcus Perrier to bring the Falcons within two, 3-1.
WMU shut down the Falcons in the final 20 minutes, holding them to just five shots on goal. Berschbach blocked a shot with 20 seconds left and picked up the rebound, taking it in for the empty-net goal.
The Broncos and Falcons do battle again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Bowling Green.
