Men's Ice Hockey | January 10, 2019
THIS WEEK
Western Michigan returns to Lawson ice Arena for the first time since Dec. 9, hosting National Collegiate Hockey Conference rival Miami on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. Friday's game is live on CBS Sports Network, with Saturday's on NCHC.tv. Both games can be heard live on the Bronco Radio network.
VIVA LAS VEGAS
WMU returns to Kalamazoo with a new trophy after winning the 2019 Ice Vegas Invitational. The Broncos opened the tournament with a 5-1 win over UConn and then defeated Air Force, 4-1, to claim the title.
Cam Lee and
Josh Passolt both scored within the first 10 minutes of the first period to give Western Michigan an early 2-0 lead over the Huskies.
Austin Rueschhoff pushed the lead to 3-0 early in the second period before Karl El-Mir pegged one back to cut the lead to 3-1.
Luke Bafia and
Ethen Frank each tallied in the third period.
Trevor Gorsuch made 22 saves in the win.
Despite the score line, the title game against the Falcons was a much closer affair. Bafia netted his second of the season late in the first period to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead. Frank pushed it to 2-0 at 2:11 in the second period before Matt Koch tallied on a 5-on-3 power play to cut the lead to 2-1. With just over three minutes left in the game, Air Force pulled its goalie for the extra attacker. Frank and
Lawton Courtnall both added empty-net goals to seal the win. Gorsuch made 24 saves and was named the Ice Vegas Invitational Most Valuable Player. Bafia and Frank were both named to the All-Tournament Team.
THE MIAMI REDHAWKS | 9-7-4, 3-3-2-1 NCHC
• THE SERIES: The RedHawks lead the all-time series at 68-63-11. WMU is 6-3-1 against Miami at Lawson Ice Arena under head coach
Andy Murray. Last season the teams split the season series at 2-2-0, with each team winning a game home and away.
• SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS: Miami is 3-3-4 in its last 10 games, coming to Kalamazoo after tying and losing to Providence last weekend. The RedHawks currently sit tied for fourth in the NCHC with 12 points on three wins, two ties and a shootout win.
MU has averaged 2.70 goals per game so far this season, tying for 38th in the nation. Josh Melnik, Gordie Green, and Karch Bachman are all tied for the team lead in goals scored with seven. Melnik leads the team with 19 points, also adding a team-high 12 assists. Freshman Derek Daschke is the top-scoring blue-liner with 14 points on three goals and 11 assists. Senior defenseman Grant Hutton has 13 points on four goals and nine assists and has tallied 26 total goals from the blue line in his career.
Junior Ryan Larkin has started in 16 of the 20 games this season with an 8-5-2 record, three shutouts, a 2.10 goals against average and a .931 save percentage that ranks sixth in the nation. Miami's defense ranks 16th in the nation, allowing 2.30 goals per game so far this season.
MU's power play come in at 34th in the nation at 17.9 percent (15-for-85). Four of Melnik's seven goals have come with the man advantage to pace the team. Hutton and Ryan Siroky each have two. It's penalty kill ranks 48th in the nation at 77.2 percent (61-for-79).
DOUBLING UP
Junior
Luke Bafia did some doubling up last weekend in Las Vegas and it wasn't on the black jack table. Coming into the tournament Bafia had just two goals in his career and none on the season. He netted WMU's fourth goal of the game in the 5-1 win over UConn and gave WMU a 1-0 lead in the title game against Air Force late in the first period.
While he may not light the lamp a lot in his career, he does help keep opponents from doing so by blocking shots. Bafia had four total blocks in Las Vegas to push his season total to 53, the third-most in the nation. He has averages 3.12 blocks per game which ranks just behind Kris Myllari's 3.35 for the nation's most.
SILVER MEDAL
Freshman defenseman
Mattias Samuelsson became just the second Bronco in program history to win a medal at the World Junior Championships. Samuelsson helped Team USA to a silver medal after a loss to Finland in the gold medal game. Samuelsson played in all seven games for USA during the tournament, finishing +3. The Buffalo Sabres' draft pick joins Bronco Hockey alum Joe Corvo, who also won a silver medal for Team USA at the 1996-97 tournament.
INSIDE THE STREAK
Western Michigan's eight-game unbeaten streak is tied with Providence for the longest current streak in the nation, going 7-0-1. WMU has had its offense and defense both rolling during the stretch. The Broncos are averaging 3.9 goals per game while allowing just 1.50.
Colt Conrad has 11 points on three goals and eight assists in the eight games, while
Josh Passolt has contributed seven goals and three assists.
Hugh McGing has nearly been equal in his goal scoring and creating with five goals and four assists.
Ethen Frank has netted six goals in the eight games as well.
Senior goalie
Trevor Gorsuch has started all eight games with a stellar 1.48 goals against average and .949 save percentage during the run.
The Broncos have done all of this despite sputtering special teams. The power play has gone just 5-for-34 (14.7 percent), while the penalty kill is at 27-for-34 (79.6 percent).
WATCH PARTY
The WMU Blue Line Club will be hosting a watch party for next Saturday's game at St. Cloud State. Head to Nisker's Char Grill & Slap Shot Hockey Bar to watch WMU take on the Huskies at 7 p.m. Nisker's is located at 5051 W. Main Street in Kalamazoo.
ON THE HORIZON
WMU heads to No. 1 St. Cloud State next weekend for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday. Friday's game will drop the puck at 8:07 p.m., with Saturday's starting an hour earlier. Western Michigan returns home to host Denver on Jan. 25-26. Tickets are available by calling 1-888-4-WMUTIX and online at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets.
