KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Nolan LaPorte tallied his second game-winning goal of the weekend to give Western Michigan a 3-2 victory to complete the sweep of Miami on Saturday night in front of a sold out crowd of 3,826 fans at Lawson Ice Arena.
One second after killing off Will Kessel's five minute major penalty Chase Balisy and LaPorte teamed up to push the score to 3-1 at 4:46 in the third period. Balisy chipped the puck out to center ice and LaPorte flew in to Miami's zone, LaPorte skated in on Miami goalie Jay Williams and beat him with a back-hander for his seventh goal of the season. LaPorte's goal was also his fourth game winning goal on the year.
Junior Frank Slubowski made 36 saves on the night with 16 coming on eight RedHawk power plays. The Bronco (11-8-3, 5-5-0-0 NCHC) penalty kill was a perfect 8-for-8 on the night and 12-for-13 on the weekend.
Balisy and LaPorte connected for their third goal of the series to get the scoring started for the Broncos at 2:01 in the first period. LaPorte intercepted a pass behind the net and passed it to Balisy in the slot who fired it in top shelf. The goal was Balisy's second shorthanded goal on the weekend and the third short-handed goal of the series.
Sophomore forward Riley Barber tied the score 1-1 at 8:48 in the first period with assists from Sean Kuraly and Chris Joyaux. Barber fired the puck from just inside the blue line and it went off the far post and in to the goal.
Western Michigan freshman defenseman Taylor Fleming netted his first career goal at 17:52 in the second period while 4-on-4 from Mike Cichy and Kenney Morrison. Cichy tipped Williams' rebound from the right edge of the crease to Fleming in the slot who fired in a slap shot. Fleming's goal put the Broncos up 2-1 over the RedHawks.
MU attempted a late offensive push by pulling Williams, which resulted in Barber's second goal of the night at 19:00 in the third period from Cody Murphy and Matt Joyaux. Barber's goal wasn't enough and WMU held the lead making the final score 3-2.
WMU continues conference play next weekend at No. 2 St. Cloud State on Friday and Saturday. Friday's 7 p.m. EDT game is on CBS Sports Network and Saturday's game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. puck drop.
