KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The eighth-ranked Western Michigan hockey team split its regular season finale against No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth, falling 6-3, in front of a capacity crowd at Lawson Ice Arena on Saturday night.
 
WMU (20-9-5, 13-9-2-1) picked up goals from Matheson Iacopelli, Lawton Courtnall and Griffen Molino on the night. Both Iacopelli and Molino had two-point games adding assists with their goals.
 
UMD jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a pair of power play goals. The first came at 15:49 in the first period when Jared Thomas put in his first goal of the season. Minutes later at 18:05 Adam Johnson ripped one through traffic for his first goal of the night at 18:05 right off the faceoff after a penalty was called on WMU.
 
The Broncos answered back at 1:31 in the second period. Wade Allison played the puck to Iacopelli at the top of the right circle and the sophomore forward ripped one into the net for his team-best 20^th goal of the season. Allison tallied his 15^th assist and Molino also picked up his 15^th helper.
 
Western Michigan tied it up at 2-2 at 9:24 when Courtnall scored his second of the weekend. Courtnall exited the penalty box and jumped into play, scrambling to get to a loose puck and punching it into the net. Colt Conrad and Jade McMullen both picked up assists.
 
UMD scored the next three goals to build a 5-2 lead, starting with a goal by Johnson at 19:55 in the second period. After Ben Blacker made a save the puck was loose and Johnson finally reached in to poke it into the net for his 17^th of the season.
 
Avery Peterson made it 4-2 at 1:53 in the third period, beating Blacker from the slot for his seventh goal of the season.  Freshman Joey Anderson pushed the lead to 5-2 with a snipe from the left circle.
 
Molino cut the lead to 5-3 with a laser of his own from the left circle at 14:30. Iacopelli and Chris Dienes also picked up assists on the goal.
 
The Broncos pulled their goalie during the final two minutes, including during a power play, but Alex Iafallo scored an empty-net goal from center ice to seal the win for UMD.
 
Western Michigan hosts Omaha in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Quarterfinals next Friday, Saturday and Sunday if necessary. All games will start at 7 p.m. Tickets are available now and start at $15 by calling 1-888-4-WMUTIX and visiting wmubroncos.com/tickets.