Men's Ice Hockey | October 17, 2018

THIS WEEK
No. 19 Western Michigan takes on No. 11/10 Michigan in a home-and-home series. The Broncos travel to Ann Arbor for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop on Friday against the Wolverines, before a Saturday 7:05 p.m. game at Lawson Ice Arena. 

HOW TO FOLLOW
Friday's game will be streamed live on BTN2GO.. Saturday's game will be featured on NCHC.tv and both games can be heard live on the Bronco Radio Network and www.z965fm.com.

LAST WEEK
Western Michigan opened the 2018-19 regular season with a 6-2 loss against No. 20 Bowling Green last Tuesday, but responded well with a weekend sweep over Ferris State in wins of 4-3 and 5-0. 

WMU took an early lead from the Falcons on a power play goal by Austin Rueschhoff but BGSU responded with three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead. Josh Passolt cut the lead to 3-2 with his first goal of the season in the second period but Bowling Green added three more to finish off the Broncos. 

Western Michigan scored all four of its goals in the first period in Friday's win at Ferris State. Dawson DiPietro gave the Broncos a 1-0 lead just 1:49 into the game. Jade McMullen, Hugh McGing and Cam Lee also tallied to push the lead to 4-0. FSU netted a goal right before the end of the first period, then again early in the third period. Coale Norris' second of the night came with 7:04 left to play, getting the Bulldogs within one.

On Saturday, senior goalie Trevor Gorsuch made 26 saves to earn his first career shutout. Cole Gallant, Colt Conrad, Lee, Passolt and Drew Worrad all scored goals for the Broncos, while Conrad, Lee and Passolt each added two assists for three-point nights. 


MICHIGAN WOLVERINES | 0-1-0
• THE SERIES: Michigan leads the all-time series 71-34-10. The two teams have not met since Dec. 27, 2013, a 3-2 overtime win for the Broncos in the Great Lakes Invitational at Comerica Park. This is WMU's first time visiting Yost Arena since a series on Dec. 14-15, 2012. Likewise, Saturday is Michigan's first trip to Lawson Ice Arena since the CCHA Quarterfinals series on March 15-16, 2013. This will be the first matchup between head coaches Andy Murray and Mel Pearson. 

• SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES: No. 11/10 Michigan enters the series with just one regular season game played so far this season, a 5-2 loss at home to Vermont back on Oct. 6. UM also has a 7-4 win over Waterloo and a 6-3 loss to the USNDTP U-18 team in a pair of exhibition games. 

Michigan has nine draft picks on the team, including sophomore defenseman and first round draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks, Quinn Hughes. Hughes was UM's top scoring blue-liner last season with five goals and 24 assists in 37 games and is the team's top returning scorer. Fellow Canucks draft pick Will Lockwood and New York Islanders selection Nick Pastujov have both goals for the Wolverines this season. Junior forward Jake Slater is the top returning forward for Michigan, coming off a sophomore season where he put up 15 goals and 12 assists. 

Junior Hayden Lavigne started 33 games last season, including the team's 4-3 loss to Notre Dame in the Frozen Four Semifinal. For his career he holds a 24-18-4 record, a .908 save percentage and a 2.87 goals against average. Fellow junior Jack LaFontaine has 22 career games played with a 5-11-1 record, a 3.42 goals against average and a .902 save percentage. 

Last season the Wolverines were 27-for-150 (18 percent) on the power play. On the penalty kill the team went 114-for-152 (75 percent). 

ANDY MURRAY VS. THE STATE OF MICHIGAN
Since taking over the program in 2011, WMU head coach Andy Murray has posted a 33-10-5 record against the state of Michigan's six Division I college hockey programs. After the weekend sweep, Murray holds a 12-1-2 record against Ferris State. He is 4-1-1 against both Northern Michigan and Lake Superior State, 6-4-0 against Michigan, 5-3-1 against Michigan State and 2-1-0 against Michigan Tech. 

DREW WORRAD, FACEOFF KING
Freshman centerman Drew Worrad is off to fantastic start to his career as a Bronco. The Birr, Ontario native is averaging a point per game with a goal and two assists across his first three games. He netted his first collegiate goal in Saturday's 5-0 win over Ferris State. 

What has really made Worrad stand out is his ability to win draws. Through three games he is the NCAA leader in faceoff win percentage at 81.4. Worrad has won 35 and lost just eight to start his career. Only one player in the NCAA has won more draws in just three games played, Cole Maier of Union who has won 40 and lost 30. 

FIRST HARDWARE OF THE SEASON
Junior Cam Lee became the first Bronco to take home some hardware this season, earning NCHC Defenseman of the Week honors after tallying four points in three games last week. Lee netted the game-winning goal in Friday's victory at Ferris State and followed it up with his second career three-point game, scoring a goal and adding two assists in the 5-0 shutout of the Bulldogs. 

Last season the Broncos took home seven NCHC weekly honors. 

ON THE HORIZON
Western Michigan travels to Bowling Green on Tuesday to battle the Falcons at 7:37 p.m. WMU is then off until its NCHC opener on Nov. 3 at Denver.