KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The 14th-ranked Western Michigan hockey team extended its unbeaten streak to nine games after defeating No. 20 Miami, 4-3, at Lawson Ice Arena on Friday night.
Colt Conrad, Ethen Frank, Hugh McGing and Josh Passolt all scored goals, while Trevor Gorsuch made 21 saves, including nine in the third period. WMU (12-6-1, 5-3-1-1 NCHC) outshot MU 34-24 on the night and went 2-for-6 on the power play and held Miami scoreless on three power plays.
Conrad gave WMU a 1-0 lead on a power play goal at 10:27 in the first period. Passolt found Conrad in the left circle. Conrad was left alone and skated into the middle of the circle and fired a shot off the right post and then off the left post and in for his seventh goal of the season.
Just over a minute later at 11:58 Gordie Green tied it up with his first of two goals on the night. Green and Karch Bachman played the give-and-go on a two-on-one rush with Green getting it past Gorsuch for his eighth of the season.
Frank opened a dominant second period with his ninth goal of the season. Frank had the puck in the right circle and fired one past MU goalie Ryan Larkin from a sharp angle, beating Larkin over his shoulder to give WMU a 2-1 lead.
McGing pushed the lead to 3-1 on a goal at 15:48 in the second period. Gorsuch made an acrobatic save, which jump started a rush by the Broncos. Frank dished it off to McGing and he fired it from the slot on the low-glove side for his 11th of the season.
WMU killed off a five-minute major power play to open the third period but Green added his second shortly after at 7:45. Green finished a feed from Bachman at the bottom of the left circle, cutting the lead to 3-2.
Passolt netted his team-leading 12th goal of the season at 11:43 to give Western Michigan a 4-2 lead. Passolt fired a one-timer past Larkin from the top of the right circle on a feed from Corey Schueneman. It was Schueneman's second assist of the night, with Conrad also picking up a helper.
A turnover in the WMU zone resulted in Miami cutting the lead back down to on one, 4-3. Scott Corbett intercepted an errant pass behind the WMU net and set up Brian Hawkinson for his second goal of the season.
The RedHawks pulled Larkin from the net with 1:27 left to go but the Broncos held strong to pick up the win.
The two teams battle again on Saturday night at 7 p.m. Tickets are available by calling 1-888-4-WMUTIX and online at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets. The game will also be streamed live on NCHC.tv and can be heard live on the Bronco Radio Network.
