Men's Ice Hockey | November 16, 2016

THIS WEEK
Western Michigan takes a break from National College Hockey Conference play and hosts the Air Force Academy on Friday and Saturday. Friday's set for a 7 p.m. start, while Saturday's puck drop has been pushed back to 8:05 p.m. to better accommodate WMU fans heading over from the Bronco football game. 

HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Friday's game will be broadcast live on the American Sports Network. Locally it will be tape-delayed on CW-7. Both games can also be streamed line on NCHC.tv and heard live on the Bronco Radio Network. 

LAST WEEK
The Broncos went on the road and earned a hard-fought split with No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth. Western Michigan took the opening game of the series, 4-3. Aidan Muir scored the opening goal at 7:57 in the first period to give WMU a 1-0 lead. UMD came roaring back and scored three-straight goals in under five minutes to go ahead 3-1. Matheson Iacopelli then netted his 10th goal of the season and Colt Conrad tied the game up at 3-3 with 3.1 seconds left in the first period.

Neither team scored in the second period and it took till the final minute of the third period for the Broncos to get the winner, when Conrad punched in a loose puck from the slot for his second of the night. Trevor Gorsuch made 21 saves on the night to get the win. 

On Saturday the Broncos were held off the scoreboard in a 2-0 shutout loss. WMU only allowed two power play goals on the game. Gorsuch was stellar in net, making a career-high 33 saves in the loss, including 14 on the power play. 

AT A GLANCE: AIR FORCE // 6-3-1
- THE SERIES: This weekend will be the first meeting between Western Michigan and the Air Force Academy since Jan. 23, 1988. The Falcons lead the all-time series 3-2. The Broncos are 1-1-0 against Air Force at Lawson Ice Arena, but have not hosted the school since a series on Feb. 6-7, 1976.

- ONCE A BRONCO: Air Force head coach Frank Serratore was a two-time letterwinner at Western Michigan. Serratore played goalie from 1977-79, winning 18 games in that span before transferring to Bemidji State. 

- SCOUTING THE FALCONS: Air Force are off to a hot start and received 11 points in the USCHO.com poll, placing them unofficially at 24th this week. The Falcons have won three straight, with a 3-1 win at Army and a sweep of RIT last weekend after a pair of 4-3 victories. AF opened the season by winning the annual Ice Breaker tournament after beating Boston College and then tying Ohio State and winning the shootout. Both the Buckeyes and the Eagles have remained in the national rankings all season. 

The Falcons have averaged 3.0 goals per game through their first 10 this season, and the goals are spread out across the team. Junior Jordan Himley leads the team with four goals and 17 total Falcons have scored on the season. Matt Serratore has three goals and leads the team with seven assists for a team-best 10 points. Junior Phil Boje is the top scoring threat from the blue line with three goals and five assists for eight points. 

Defensively, Air Force has given up 3.10 goals per game and is tied for 35th in the nation. Sophomore Shane Starrett has seen the bulk of the action so far this season, starting in nine of the 10 games. Starrett has a 6-2-1 record with a 2.56 goals against average and a .919 save percentage. Fellow sophomore Billy Christopoulos has started in one game, a 5-2 loss to Arizona State.

On special teams, the Falcon power play averages 12.7-percent (7-for-55) and ranks 46th in the nation. Junior forward Ben Kucera leads the team with two tallies, while five others have scored one goal with the man advantage. Air Force's penalty kill ranks among the best in the nation, coming in at 10th overall at 89.1-percent (41-for-46). 

NUMBER TWO
After scoring his 10th goal of the season in WMU's 4-3 win over No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth, sophomore forward Matheson Iacopelli ranks second in the nation in both total goals and goals per game (1.0). After scoring just one goal his freshman season, the Chicago Blackhawks' draft pick has scored in six games this season, including a hat trick and three total multi-goal games. The Broncos are 5-1-0 when Iacopelli lights the lamp.

BRIEF POWER OUTAGE
Saturday's 2-0 loss at No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth was the first time this season that the Broncos had failed to score on the power play. Despite the rough patch in the loss, Western Michigan still leads the nation with 19 tallies on the man advantage and ranks sixth in power play percentage at 25 (19-for-76). The power play goals have come from all over as well, with 11 different Broncos lighting the lamp with the extra skater. Freshman forward Wade Allison leads the team with four, while Iacopelli sits just behind him with three.

SEE YOU IN DECEMBER, BRIEFLY
The Broncos have Thanksgiving weekend off this season and only have one more home series left in 2016. WMU welcomes NCHC rivals St. Cloud State on Dec. 2-3. Western Michigan then has a long gap before it returns back to Lawson Ice Arena on Jan. 13 and 14, when it welcomes Denver. Tickets are available by calling 1-888-4-WMUTIX or online at WMUBroncos.com.