KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan hockey team lost a hard-fought battle to No. 2 North Dakota, 2-0, at Lawson Ice Arena in front of a near-sellout crowd of 3,342 fans on Friday night.

Brock Boeser netted two goals for the Fighting Hawks, while sophomore goalie Cam Johnson stopped all 31 of WMU's shots. The Bronco penalty kill was a perfect 3-for-3 on the night and did not allow a shot on goal while down a man. Western Michigan (7-15-3, 4-10-1-1) also blocked 21 shots, including five by junior captain Sheldon Dries. Lukas Hafner made 28 saves, allowing just one goal.

After the first eight minutes of the first period the Broncos were being outshot 8-2. A WMU power play changed the course of the period and the team outshot North Dakota 7-3 from that point.

Western Michigan ramped up the pressure in the second period, outshooting the Fighting Hawks 17-8 . The teams were neck-and-neck deep into the third period when Paul LaDue had a shot blocked by a Bronco. The puck bounced to Boeser and the freshman put it past Hafner for his 16th goal of the season with 5:14 remaining.

Western Michigan pulled Hafner with just over 90 seconds left in the game, managing to get a few scoring chances before Boeser scored and empty-net goal at 19:38.

WMU was held scoreless on four power plays on the night and outshot North Dakota 31-30.

The two teams battle again on Saturday night at 8 p.m. The game can be seen live on America Sports Network, across Canada on TSN2 , and locally in West Michigan on CW-7.