Men's Ice Hockey | January 31, 2019
THIS WEEK
The eighth-ranked Western Michigan hockey team heads on the road in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play, heading to Omaha for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday at 8:07 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on NCHC.tv and can also be seen on Fox College Sports in select markets. The games will also be broadcast on the Bronco Radio Network.
LAST WEEK
WMU hosted and swept No. 4/3 Denver, beating the Pioneers 3-1 and 5-1.
On Friday the Broncos dominated play early on, outshooting DU 22-7 in the first two periods. The breakthrough goal came short-handed by
Hugh McGing just 1:51 into the second period.
Ethen Frank added a power play goal at 9:35 in the second to push the lead to 2-0. Liam Finlay cut the lead in half with a goal at 6:06 into the third period, but
Trevor Gorsuch made 14 of his 21 saves in the final 20 minutes to hold the lead. Frank added an empty-net goal with 1:07 remaining to seal the win.
WMU exploded for three goals in the first period of Saturday's win, following that with two more in the second period to take a commanding 5-0 lead.
Josh Passolt tallied his team-leading 15th goal of the season at 5:59 in the first period while on the power play.
Paul Washe scored just 40 seconds later to push the lead to 2-0 on his second goal of the season.
Drew Worrad scored WMU's second power play goal of the game at 14:52 in the first period.
Cam Lee pushed the lead to 4-0 on his sixth goal of the season at 8:42 in the second period, while
Dawson DiPietro scored 30 seconds later for his third goal of the season. The Pioneers added a late power play goal to ruin the shutout bid.
THE OMAHA MAVERICKS || 7-15-2, 3-10-1-1 NCHC
• THE SERIES: After a split earlier in the season, Omaha leads the all-time series at 25-18-6 and a big 14-6-2 advantage in Omaha. The Broncos are 2-6-0 all-time at Baxter Arena with the last win coming on Feb. 10, 2017.
Colt Conrad has feasted on the Mavericks over his career. The senior forward has 14 points on six goals and eight assists and is +13 in 13 career games against UNO.
Wade Allison has averaged a point per game in his career against Omaha, scoring four goals and adding four assists in eight games.
Hugh McGing has nine points on three goals and six assists in 11 games, while projected starter
Trevor Gorsuch has a 1-1-0 record against UNO with both starts coming this season.
• THE OMAHA CONNECTION: Sophomore forward
Ethen Frank hails from Papillion, Neb., just right outside of Omaha. Frank stayed in the state of Nebraska for his junior hockey career, playing down the highway in Lincoln for the Stars. Frank has played in six total games against Omaha in his short career, netting a goal and adding two assists.
• LAST TIME OUT: WMU and UNO split back on Nov. 9-10 in Kalamazoo. The Broncos opened the series with a 7-2 win. Freshman forward
Cole Gallant had two goals,
Cam Lee had three assists, while
Ethen Frank, Dawson DiPietero,
Austin Rueschhoff and
Drew Worrad each had two points. The following night the Mavericks scored three goals in the first period and held on for a 4-2 win.
• SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS, AGAIN: Omaha currently sits in last place of the NCHC and have won just one game in its last six. UNO has been much better at Baxter Arena this season, with a 6-5-1 record so far.
The Omaha offense ranks 36th in the nation at 2.67 goals per game and is led by senior forward Mason Morelli and Fredrik Olofsson. Morelli is one of the top goal-scorers in the country, potting 14 so far this season to go with 11 assists for 25 points. Oloffson has seven goals and a team-best 17 assists. Junoir forward Zach Jordan is third on the team with 22 points on seven goals and 15 assists, while freshman Taylor Ward has 18 points on six goals and 12 assists. Junior Dean Stewart is the top scorer from the blue line with four goals and 13 assists for 17 points and is the lone defenseman to score more than one goal on the team this season.
UNO allows 3.83 goals per game, ranking 57th in the nation. Senior netminder Evan Weninger has started 23 of the team's 14 games this season with a 7-14-2 record, a 3.59 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.
The Mavericks can do some serious damage on the power play, ranking seventh in the nation at 24.8 percent (27-for-109). UNO's 27 power play goals make up 42 percent of the team's offense this season. Morelli leads the team with seven power play goals, while Olofsson and Jordan each have four. The trio are the top three in the NCHC when it comes to power play points, combining for 15 goals and 24 assists for 39 points. Omaha's penalty kill ranks 49th in the nation at 77.4 percent (82-for-106) and UNO is the second-most penalized team in the country, averaging 16 minutes in the box each game.
WATCH PARTY
Bronco hockey fans in the Kalamazoo area can join the Bronco Hockey Blue Line Club at Nisker's-Char Grill & Slap Shot Hockey Bar on the corner of W. Main and Drake for Saturday night's game.
SCORING FIRST IS JUST A THING WMU HOCKEY DOES
Western Michigan has scored first in 20 of the 24 games so far this season and post a 14-5-1 record when it happens. Last season, WMU scored first in 17 games, going 11-5-1 and went 17-1-2 in 2016-17 when lighting the lamp before its opponents.
The scoring early has led to the Broncos netting 33 goals this season in the first period, while limiting opponents to just 16. Western Michigan has been most successful when
Josh Passolt has been the first to score in a game. WMU is 3-0-0 when Passolt strikes first and 2-0-0 when
Colt Conrad or
Ethen Frank light the lamp before the opposing team.
BACK ON TRACK
WMU's penalty kill got back on track in the series sweep against No. 4/3 Denver. The broncos finished the week 3-for-8 with the man advantage to raise their season percentage to 17.8 WMU is 8-3-0 when scoring with the man advantage this season, with
Josh Passolt and
Hugh McGing tied for the team lead with five each.
ON THE HORIZON
WMU returns home for a bye week before hosting North Dakota on Feb. 15-16. The Friday game on Feb. 15 will start at 6:30 p.m. due to national television coverage by CBS Sports Network. Saturday's game will start at 7:05 p.m. Tickets for both games are available by calling 1-888-4-WMUTIX and online at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets.
