KALAMAZOO -- No. 9 Western Michigan scored three unanswered goals to defeat Michigan, 3-2, in front of 4,205 fans at Lawson Ice Arena on Friday night.
WMU picked up goals from
Trevor Elias,
Jordan Oesterle and
Colton Hargrove, while
Mike Leone and
Justin Kovacs each tallied two assists.
Frank Slubowski made 28 saves as the Broncos took sole possession of first place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association after Notre Dame fell to Ferris State, 3-1.
Michigan jumped to a quick 2-0 lead on goals just 1:46 apart from each other early in the first period. Boo Nieves intercepted a pass in the WMU zone and found Phil Di Giueseppe for the first goal of the game at 4:10. A penalty was called during the goal, which put the Broncos down a man right away.
Kevin Lynch stripped a Bronco behind the net and found Alex Guptill open in the slot to make it 2-0 at 5:56. Andrew Copp also tallied an assist on the goal.
The Broncos struck back at 11:01 on a goal by Elias.
Luke Witkowski created a turnover at the Michigan blue line and found
Will Kessel at the top of the left circle. Kessel back-handed the puck through traffic to Elias and the senior speedster punched it in for his third goal of the season.
Western Michigan tied the game, 2-2, on Oesterle's second goal of the season with 1:01 remaining in the first period. Kovacs found Oesterle at the left point and the sophomore blue-liner fired it through traffic and past UM goalie Adam Janecyk. Leone also tallied his sixth assist of the season on the goal.
The game-winner came late in the second period after Leone held the puck in the zone and found Kovacs behind the net. The sophomore forward found a charging Hargrove in the slot and the big freshman slotted it home to give the Broncos a 3-2 lead at 16:01.
The Broncos held on and Slubowski made 10 saves in the third period to finish off the game.
WMU was outshot 30-26 by the Wolverines on the night, only the time the Broncos have been out shot this season at home.
The two teams meet for the final time of the regular season at 7:35 p.m. tomorrow night. The game will be broadcast in high-definition on Fox Sports Detroit.
