COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Western Michigan picked up five out of six possible points to open National Collegiate Hockey Conference play after a 4-4 tie and sudden death shootout win over Colorado College on Saturday night at World Arena.
Freshman defenseman Ronnie Attard netted his second goal of the night to tie the game up with 23.9 seconds left. The Broncos (3-3-2, 1-0-1-1 NCHC) pulled Brandon Bussi from the net to gain the extra attacker and Ethen Frank found Attard in the left circle. Attard fired a blast past Matt Vernon and into the net. Paul Washe also picked up an assist on the goal.
Western Michigan was awarded a power play in the overtime period and got off eight shots on goal but was unable to get it past Vernon before the game officially ended in a tie. Both teams had chances in the three-on-three overtime but neither team was able to light the lamp. The game went to a sudden death shootout with the teams trading goals by Grant Cruikshank and Frank to start off. Chris Wilke was CC's second shooter and lost control of the puck, getting off an attempt that went well wide. Josh Passolt stepped up and buried the puck in the net to end the game and give the Broncos the extra point.
Attard recorded the first multi-goal game of his young career, while WMU also picked up goals by Drew Worrad and Washe. Worrad and Washe also had assists on the night for back-to-back multipoint games, with Washe having his third straight. Frank had a career-high three assists, tallying helpers on WMU's second, third and fourth goals.
Western Michigan jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first period. Washe deflected past by Cole Gallant past Vernon and into the net to go ahead 1-0 just 3:41 into the game. Attard scored at 7:27 with a rocket from the slot to push it to 2-0. Frank had the puck and faked a back-hand wraparound attempt, instead feeding it to Attard for the blast. The goal was the defenseman's third second of the season, with Frank and Worrad each picking up their third assists of the season.
Colorado College responded with two straight goals at 9:18 and 15:37 of the first period. Freshman defenseman Connor Mayer fired a shot into the net from the deep slot to cut the lead to 2-1. Later on a major power play Bailey Conger netted his first of two power play goals on the night, punching in a rebound on a shot by Alex Berardinelli.
Worrad scored just 1:42 into the second period to once again give the Broncos a lead. The goal was Worrad's third of the weekend, with assists from Frank and Dawson DiPietro.
CC responded at 3:41 when Ben Copeland broke up a pass and scored on a 2-on-1 rush to tie it up at 3-3.
The Tigers pushed ahead 4-3 at 19:09 in the second period with Conger picking up his second of the night.
WMU officially outshot CC 50-37, marking the first time the Broncos have reached 50 shots since a win over Ferris State on Oct. 6, 2017.
Western Michigan returns to Kalamazoo for a home-and-home series with the Bulldogs. WMU hosts FSU on Friday at 7:05 p.m. and then heads to Big Rapids for an 8:07 puck drop on Saturday night. Tickets for Friday's game are available by calling 1-888-4-WMUTIX and online at wmubroncos.com/tickets.
