KALAMAZOO, Mich. – North Dakota goalie Zane Gothberg made 36 saves and held Western Michigan scoreless on seven power plays as the Broncos fell to UND, 3-2, in front of 3,110 fans at Lawson Ice Arena on Friday night.

Western Michigan jumped to an early 1-0 lead, just 2:04 in to the first period on a goal by Nolan LaPorte from Chase Balisy. Balisy won the faceoff left of the North Dakota, playing it through the faceoff dot and froze Gothberg. The senior captain then found LaPorte to the right of the net and the Mokena, Ill., native punched it in for his fifth goal of the season. The assist was Balisy's ninth on the year.

North Dakota responded at the 12:19 mark of the first period with a 5-on-3 power play goal scored by freshman forward Luke Johnson from Jordan Schmaltz and Dillon Simpson. Schmaltz fired a shot from the left point and WMU goalie Frank Slubowski made the initial save. Johnson was posted up at the edge of the left circle and buried the rebound for his first of the night.

UND's Johnson took advantage of another power play opportunity at 7:40 in the second period and netted his second power play goal of the game, with assists from Rocco Grimaldi and Schmaltz putting North Dakota up 2-1. Grimaldi took the puck from the left circle around the slot to the right circle and then found Johnson alone in the slot for his second of the night.

Senior forward Derek Rodwell continued the UND scoring streak with a goal at 9:26 in the third period from Stephane Pattyn and Connor Gaarder, making the score 3-1. Rodwell was able to punch in a rebound on a shot by Pattyn from just in front of the net.

The Bronocs cut into the lead with a late third period goal by Josh Pitt from Shane Bershbach and Colton Hargrove at 19:59. The assist on the goal extended Berschbach's point streak to five games and put him just one point shy of reaching 100.

Western Michigan outshot North Dakota 38-24 on the night and had 11 on the power play.  

The Broncos take on UND again at 7 p.m. tomorrow night at Lawson Ice Arena.