Men's Ice Hockey | November 07, 2018
THIS WEEK
Western Michigan welcomes Omaha to Lawson Ice Arena for its National Collegiate Hockey Conference home opener on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Both games will be streamed live on NCHC.tv and live audio can be heard at www.JackFM965.com via the Bronco Radio network.
LAST WEEK
WMU opened NCHC play on the road at No. 8/7 Denver, falling 5-2 and 4-3 in overtime.
In Friday's loss, DU's Jarid Lukosevicius recorded a hat trick to lead the Pioneers to the win. Lukosevicius scored an unassisted short-handed goal late in the first period to take a 1-0 lead.
Hugh McGing tallied his first of two goals on the night to tie it up at 1-1. Michael Davies gave DU a 2-1 lead but McGing struck again just 38 seconds later to tie it up again. From there it was all Denver. Lukosevicius and Liam Finlay tallied at 10:31 and 14:25 to send the Pioneers to the second intermission with a 4-2 lead.
On Saturday, Denver jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals by Slava Demin in the first period and Lukosevicius in the second period. WMU opened the third period with three straight goals to take a 3-2 lead.
Josh Passolt potted his fourth of the season to cut the lead to 2-1 at 3:54.
Mattias Samuelsson scored at 6:53 to tie it up at 2-2 before
Paul Washe tallied his first of the season to give Western Michigan its lone lead of the weekend. Emilio Pettersen tied the game up with 2:30 remaining on a power play goal before Lukosevicius' fifth goal of the weekend won it for Denver with 2:20 to go in overtime.
OMAHA MAVERICKS | 1-6-1, 1-1-0 NCHC
•THE SERIES: Omaha leads the all-time series at 24-17-6, while the Broncos have a slim advantage at Lawson Ice Arena, leading 11-10-4. Last season the teams traded home sweeps. WMU swept UNO in November, but the Mavericks returned the favor in January. Head Coach
Andy Murray is 10-10-0 all-time against Omaha.
• SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS: Omaha opened the season with a 3-3 tie at Union and then lost its next six games. UNO snapped that losing streak on Saturday with a 6-3 win over No. 20 Miami, splitting the series with the RedHawks to open NCHC play.
Saturday's six-goal outburst was a season high for an Omaha team that has averaged 2.75 goals per game this season and ranks 35th in the nation. Senior forward Fredrik Olofsson has been the top point producer through the first eight games. The Chicago Blackhawks' draft pick boasts a team-high seven assists and two goals for nine points. Fellow senior Mason Morelli leads the team with four goals and has three assists for seven points. Junior forward Zach Jordan is second on the squad with eight points on three goals and five assists. Junior defenseman Dean Stewart is the top scorer from the blue line with seven points on two goals and five assists.
Omaha ranks 58th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 5.0 goals per game. Senior netmidner Evan Weninger has started seven of the eight games this season with a 1-5-1 record, a 4.44 goals against average and a .876 save percentage.
While the Mavs have struggled at times this season, they have been excellent on the power play converting at a 24 percent clip (12-for-50). Olofsson, Jordan, Kevin Conley and Chayse Primeau each have two power play goals this season. Omaha's penalty kill ranks 56th in the nation at 68.2 percent (30-for-44).
NEARLY THERE
A pair of Western Michigan sophomore forwards are well on their way to matching their point outputs from their freshmen seasons.
Josh Passolt is currently tied for the team lead with eight points on four goals and four assists, while
Ethen Frank sits just behind him with seven points on two goals and five assists. Passolt totaled 11 points last season on eight goals and three assists, while Frank finished with 12 on seven goals and five assists.
SIX OF EIGHT
The Broncos have had a strong power play through the first eight games this season, scoring in six of its eight games. The only two times it failed to score with the man advantage was a 4-1 loss at Bowling Green and Saturday's overtime loss against Denver. Three of the six games it has scored power play goals, WMU has netted twice in the game.
Hugh McGing leads all Broncos with three power play goals, while
Josh Passolt is just behind him with two.
ON THE HORIZON
WMU heads back out on the road to play at North Dakota next Friday and Saturday. Friday's game begins at 8:37 p.m., while Saturday will have an 8:05 p.m. puck drop. Both games can be seen live on NCHC.tv and heard live on the Bronco Radio Network. Western Michigan returns home on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 to host Niagara. Tickets are available by calling 1-888-4-WMUTIX and online at wmubroncos.com/tickets.
