Men's Ice Hockey | October 17, 2019

THIS WEEK
Western Michigan battles former Central Collegiate Hockey Conference rival Bowling Green in a home-and-home series. WMU travels to BGSU on Friday before hosting the Falcons on Saturday. 

HOW TO FOLLOW
Friday's game will be live streamed on FloHockey.tv, with Saturday's game carried on NCHC.tv. The games will both also be on the Bronco Radio Network, but Saturday's broadcast will be moved to 590 AM/106.9 FM and at WKZO.com.

LAST WEEK
Western Michigan opened the regular season going 1-0-1 at the Ice Breaker Tournament in Toledo, Ohio.

WMU opened the tournament, hosted by Bowling Green, taking on No. 12/14 Ohio State. WMU picked up goals from Lawton Courtnall and Brett Van Os, while freshman Brandon Bussi made 27 saves in his collegiate debut. 

OSU took an early 1-0 lead at 2:11 in the first period. The Broncos responded with Courtnall's goal at 16:30 to tie it up at 1-1. Midway through the second period Van Os was set up by Ethen Frank to push ahead 2-1. OSU tied it up with a power play goal at 15:36 in the third period. Neither team took advantage of the overtime and the 3-on-3 overtime period. The teams went to a sudden death shootout with the Buckeyes winning 2-1 in five rounds. 

Game two featured WMU and BGSU, with the Broncos taking down the Falcons 5-2. 

Western Michigan had five different scorers in the game, with Drew Worrad giving the team a 1-0 lead just 1:00 into the game. Bowling Green tied it up early in the second period but the Broncos rattled off three straight goals by Frank, Ronnie Attard and Austin Rueschhoff to push ahead 4-1. BGSU added a goal with three seconds left in the second period and Wade Allison tallied an empty-netter with 45 seconds left in the game to set the final. Bussi made 31 saves to earn his first win. 

BOWLING GREEN STATE FALCONS | 1-2-0
• THE SERIES: After Saturday's win over Bowling Green, the Broncos trail the all-time series 61-73-8. Senior forward Wade Allison has averaged nearly two points per game against the Falcons in his career. In five career games against BGSU he has nine points on four goals and five assists. Dawson DiPietro has eight assists in six career games, while Austin Rueschhoff has four goals in four career games against Bowling Green.   

• SCOUTING THE FALCONS, AGAIN: After Saturday's loss to the Broncos, Bowling Green enters Friday's game 1-2-0 on the season. BGSU is unofficially 21 in the USCHO.com poll, receiving the most votes outside of the top 20. 

Junior forward Cameron Wright leads the team in goals with four, but all four came in its season-opening win at Miami. Junior defenseman Alec Rauhauser is tied with Wright for the team lead in points with four, on one goal and three assists. Defenseman Tim Theochardis and sophomore forward Taylor Schneider both scored in Saturday's loss to WMU. 

Junior Eric Dop has started all three games this season. Dop heads into Friday with a 3.68 goals against average and a .836 save percentage. Freshman Zack Rose and junior Brett Rich have yet to see action. 

BGSU's power play ranks tied for 23rd in the nation at 14.3 percent (2-for-14). Wright has both power play goals for the Falcons. The penalty kill ranks 28th in the nation at 84.6 percent (11-for-13). 

DAZZLING DEBUTS
All four of WMU's freshmen played in both games at the Ice Breaker Tournament. Goalie Brandon Bussi made 27 saves in the 2-2 tie against Ohio State and 31 against Bowling Green to earn his first career win. Freshmen defensemen Ronnie Attard and Scooter Brickey each picked up their first collegiate points. Attard netted his first career goal, and the eventual game-winner, to push WMU's lead to 3-1. Brickey had the primary assist on Ethen Frank's goal that put the Broncos ahead 2-1. 

STARTING WITH A DRAW
WMU's season-opening 2-2 tie against Ohio State was the first time the Broncos opened a season with a tie since the 2000-01 season. The Broncos opened that season with a 3-3 tie against Alaska Fairbanks.

BEST CONDITIONED
WMU annually tests its players conditioning prior to the start of the season. The top five best-conditioned athletes are:
1) Brett Van Os
2) Kale Bennett
3) Cam Lee
4) Josh Passolt
5) Ethen Frank

ON THE HORIZON
WMU continues its trek through the former CCHA next weekend. The Broncos travel to the University of Michigan for a game on Friday at 7:30 p.m. before hosting the Wolverines on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. 

SEASON NOTES
• LEAGUE LEADERS
Western Michigan returns the most goals and total points in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. The Broncos return 112 goals, 22 more than Minnesota-Duluth's 90. Combined, WMU also returns 271 total points, once again just head of the Bulldogs, who return 265. 

Western Michigan did lose its leading point scorer in Colt Conrad, who wrapped up his career with a 38 points season on 11 goals and 27 assists. From there, WMU returns its next six top scorers, including senior captain Hugh McGing and junior forward Josh Passolt, who tied for the team lead with 16 goals each. The Broncos also return double-digit goal scorers in junior forward Austin Rueschhoff (13) and junior forward Ethen Frank (15). Senior defenseman Cam Lee is the top returning assist man after dishing out a career-high 19 last season. 

• SUPER SENIORS
WMU has nine seniors this season, the most ever by an Andy Murray coached team and the most in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. The class is tied for fifth nationally with Michigan, Michigan State, Dartmouth, and Yale. Boston College leads the nation with 11 seniors, followed by Penn State, American International and Alaska Fairbanks each with 10. 

• 47 & 46
Western Michigan begins its 47th season of college hockey, with senior forward Hugh McGing being named the 46th captain in program history. McGing will be assisted by senior defenseman Luke Bafia, senior forward Wade Allison, junior forward Josh Passolt and sophomore defenseman Mattias Samuelsson.