ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- Western Michigan fought back from two deficits to tie No. 3/4 St. Cloud State, 5-5, and win the shootout 1-0 in three rounds to earn the extra point on the road at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Friday night.
WMU fought off a 3-1 deficit on three straight goals by
Mike Cichy,
Shane Berschbach and
Chase Balisy to tie the game at 4-4 heading into the third period. During a five-minute power play the Huskies took a lead on a goal by Nic Dowd but Balisy netted his second of the night with 3:22 left to force the tie and overtime.
After neither team capitalized during the extra period Kovacs opened the shootout with a goal between SCSU goalie Ryan Faragher's legs to give WMU a 1-0 lead. Neither Balisy or Berschbach could find the net but
Lukas Hafner made two saves and forced a shot wide for his first career shootout win in WMU's first NCHC shootout in program history.
The Broncos outshot the Huskies 27-22 on the night with Hafner making 16 saves after replacing
Frank Slubowski in the first period. WMU's power play found its footing and went 2-for-4 on the night but SCSU went 3-for-5.
St. Cloud State jumped on the Broncos early, scoring three goals in the first period. Jimmy Murray gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead just 1:47 in after intercepting a pass and taking it down the ice to score an unassisted goal.
The Broncos responded with a power play goal down low by Kovacs at 8:55. Hargrove found him to the right of the crease and he tucked it between Faragher's legs for his 10th goal of the season.
Murray netted his second of the game at 13:57 on a goal in transition. A turnover in the neutral zone created a three-on-one rush for SCSU and Dowd found Murray at the edge of the left circle for the goal.
A hooking penalty was called during Murray's second goal and it created a power play for the Huskies. Kalle Kossila took advantage and netted his sixth goal of the game with a shot that snuck by Slubowski from the top of the left circle. Hafner was substituted in after SCSU took a 3-1 lead.
Cichy netted the first of three-straight goals to open the second period at 7:26.
Josh Pitt found him in the slot and the senior one-timed it into the net for his second goal of the season.
Kenney Morrison tallied his second of three assists on the goal as the Broncos cut the lead to 4-2.
Minutes later at 10:06 Berschbach skated through the slot and then around the net to back-hand a wraparound attempt into the net for his ninth goal of the season. Morrison picked up another assist as the SCSU lead shrunk to 4-3.
At 13:01 Balisy netted his first of the game after Kovacs found him on the back door for the tap-in.
Matt Stewart also tallied an assist on the goal as the Broncos tied it up 4-4.
Dowd netted his 11th of the season at 7:37 in the third period after punching in his own rebound on the power play.
Balisy's game-tying goal came after Kovacs lifted the stick of a SCSU player at the blue line to prevent him from getting the puck and then finding his captain in front of the net. Balisy faked a shot and then pushed the puck around Faragher to square the game at 5-5.
The two teams battle it out for the final time this season on Saturday at 8:07 p.m.
