Men's Ice Hockey | October 12, 2017

THIS WEEK
Western Michigan continues its non-conference schedule hosting No. 15 Clarkson on Friday and Saturday. Please note that Saturday's puck drop has been moved to 8:05 p.m.

EARLIER THIS WEEK
WMU had a quick turnaround after its split with Ferris State, hosting Bowling Green on Tuesday night. The Broncos defeated the Falcons, 3-1, thanks to two goals by sophomore defenseman Cam Lee and stellar goaltending from Ben Blacker. 

Lee scored just a minute into the first period to give WMU a very early 1-0 lead. Hugh McGing found Lee trailing the play and he fired it through a screen and into the net for his first goal of the season. BGSU responded with a power play goal and Blacker kept the game tied, making 14 of his 33 saves in the first period. 

Lee struck again just 2:34 into the second period, ripping a shot into the net after Paul Washe won an offensive-zone faceoff back to him. Colt Conrad added an empty-net goal with 50 seconds remaining the push the lead to 3-1. 

THE CLARKSON GOLDEN KNIGHTS || 2-0-0
• THE SERIES: Clarkson holds the all-time series lead at 8-2-2. The most recent meeting between the two teams came back on Oct. 23-24, 2015 in Potsdam, N.Y. The Golden Knights got the best of WMU both games, winning 4-2 and 6-2. CU's last trip to Lawson Ice Arena was Nov. 5-6, 1993. The Broncos and the Golden Knights tied 2-2 in the series opener, followed by a 4-3 win by Western Michigan. The wins have been few and far between for the Brown & Gold, with the last victory against Clarkson coming on the road on Nov. 4, 1994, 8-4. 

• SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS: Clarkson has catapulted itself into the nation's top 15 after an impressive opening weekend. CU hosted Penn State and the University of Michigan, defeating both. The Golden Knights opened the regular season against the Nittany Lions with a 2-1 win and then followed it up with a 3-0 shutout of the Wolverines. 

Five different players scored Clarkson's five goals during the opening weekend. Defenseman Terrance Amorosa, a Philadelphia Flyers' draft pick, leads the team with four points on a goal and three assists. Junior forward Marly Quince is the team's top-scoring forward with a goal and two assists so far. Kelly Summers, a senior defenseman and Ottawa Senators' draft pick, also has a goal and an assist. Sophomore forward Sheldon Rempal is the team's top returning scorer. Last season he had 23 points on 11 goals and 12 assists and has two assists already this season. 

Sophomore Jake Kielly is off to a fantastic start between the pipes with a .985 save percentage and a 0.50 goals against average. Kielly was voted the team's Rookie of the Year and was named to the ECAC All-Rookie Team. 

Clarkson was picked to finish fourth in the ECAC Coaches' poll and fifth in the ECAC Media poll. CU's power play is just 1-for-9 (11.1 percent) in the two games this season but the penalty kill has been a stellar 11-for-12 (91.7 percent).

DOUBLE YOUR FUN
Western Michigan sophomore defenseman Cam Lee netted two goals in the win over Bowling Green, doubling his career goal total in a single night. Lee is coming off a freshman campaign that saw him finish with 14 points on two goals and 12 assists, the fourth-highest scorer amongst WMU defensemen. Lee's goals also marked the first of the season by any Bronco blue-liner. 

CONTAINING COLT
So far this season opposing teams have had trouble containing Colt Conrad. Last season, which ended in a career-high 29 points, through three games Conrad had just one goal and one assist. Through three games this season the St. Alphonse, Manitoba native is tied for the NCAA lead in points scored with six. Thanks to an empty-net goal in the 3-1 win over Bowling Green, he has scored a goal in every game this season and was recently named the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his five-point weekend against Ferris State. 

GOALS ALL OVER
A big question coming into this season was how would WMU cope with the loss of Sheldon Dries, Matheson Iacopelli and Griffen Molino and their 51 goals score? The answer so far has been a team approach. Through the three games seven different Broncos have lit the lamp. Conrad leads the team with three, while Wade Allison and Lee both have two. Aidan Muir, Paul Washe, Josh Passolt and Ethen Frank each have one. 

HUGH THE HELPER
Through three games sophomore forward Hugh McGing is over a quarter of the way to matching his total of 14 assists from his freshman season. McGing opened the season with two assists in the season-opening 6-1 win over Ferris State. He's also notched assists in the 3-2 loss to FSU and the 3-1 win over BGSU. McGing joins Conrad as the only other Bronco to have tallied a point in every game this season. 

ON THE HORIZON
The Broncos face off against a familiar foe next weekend in a home-and-home series with the Michigan State Spartans. WMU travels to Munn Ice Arena next Friday and then hosts MSU on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are available at the WMU box office, by calling 1-888-4-WMUTIX and online at wmubroncos.com/tickets. Fans can also make it a part of the Pick Six plan, getting tickets to six games for just $108.