KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan Broncos fell 4-2 to the Denver Pioneers in front of 2,944 fans at Lawson Ice Arena on Friday night.
WMU tied it up early in the third period but it was not enough to hold off the Pioneers' late offensive effort. Bronco senior Chase Balisy scored to tie the game 1-1 at 4:16 in the third period from Taylor Fleming and Shane Berschbach. Fleming shot from the right point and Balisy deflected the puck in front of the net and scored for his ninth goal on the season.
Will Butcher pushed the score to 2-1 with a power play goal at 9:37 in the third period from David Makowski and Trevor Moore. Butcher got the puck at the center of the blue line and fired in a wrister that went in on WMU goalie Frank Slubowski's blocker side.
Gabe Levin put in the game winning goal for Denver at 13:26 in the third period from Zac Larraza and Emil Romig. Larraza got the puck in the right faceoff circle and dished it to Levin in the slot who scored. The Pioneers final goal of the game came from an empty netter scored by Matt Tabrum from Matt Marcinew and Larraza at 18:22 in the third period.
DU's first goal of the night came from Romig at 14:33 in the second period from Larazza to put the Pioneers up, 1-0. Romig fired in a shot from the right faceoff dot that went off the far post and in.
Freshman forward Mike McKee netted his first career goal at 19:39 in the third period from Thomas Nitsche and Michael Rebry. Nitsche wrapped around the back of the net and shot the puck from the left edge of the crease, which was blocked by DU goaltender Sam Brittain. McKee put in the rebound from the front of the crease for the Broncos last goal of the night making the final score, 4-2.
Slubowski made 31 saves, includin nine on seven DU power plays, in the loss while Pioneer goalie Brittain stopped 29. Denver finished 1-for-7 on the power play, while the Broncos were held scoreless on their lone man advantage in the game.
Western Michigan will take on Denver for the Broncos last home game of the regular season, which will begin with a ceremony honoring WMU's seniors, at Lawson Ice Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m.
