KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan hockey team had its six-game unbeaten streak snapped after a 6-3 loss to No. 19 Omaha at Lawson Ice Arena on Saturday night.
UNO's Kevin Conley had a five-point night on three goals and two assists, while Ethen Frank had two goals for WMU (6-4-2, 2-1-1-1 NCHC). The Broncos outshot the Mavericks 29-24 on the night but Omaha went 2-for-3 on the power play.
Conley's first goal of the game gave UNO an early 1-0 lead. The power play goal came at 6:15 in the first period. He scored again at 12:32 in the period after a shot went wide off the boards to Dean Stewart and Stewart found him alone at the bottom of the left circle.
Frank responded for the Broncos at 15:44 in the first period, deflecting a shot by Mattias Samuelsson into the net for his second goal of the season. Samuelsson picked up his third assist, while Luke Bafia picked up his sixth of the season.
Chase Primeau scored on the power play to push Omaha's lead to 3-1 with a goal at 3:47 in the second period.
Dawson DiPietro responded for Western Michigan less than a minute later to cut the lead to 3-2. DiPietro stole the puck from Maverick defender at the WMU blue line and raced ahead to win the puck and fired a rocket past Isaiah Saville for his fourth goal of the season.
Frank's second of the night tied it up at 3-3 at 8:30 in the second period. The Broncos were on the power play and Hugh McGing found an open Frank in the right circle. The junior forward fired it into the top-right corner of the net for his third goal of the season. Senior defender Cam Lee also picked up an assist for his first point of the season.
Conley completed the hat trick at 15:52 to give Omaha a 4-3 lead. The junior forward jumped off the bench and skated into the WMU zone. Ryan Brushett threw the puck to the slot and Conley reached and redirected it into the net.
Taylor Ward scored at 13:30 in the third period to seal the game before Josh Boyer scored an empty-net goal with 19 seconds remaining.
Western Michigan heads on the road to No. 1 Denver next Friday and Saturday. Both games are slated for 9:07 p.m. starts and will be streamed live on NCHC.tv.
