DENVER – Freshman goalie Brandon Bussi made 35 saves as the Western Michigan hockey team upset No. 4 Denver, 2-1, on the road at Magness Arena on Friday night.
 
It is just the second win in program history for WMU at Magness and the first since Nov. 8, 2014. The Broncos (7-4-2, 3-1-1-1 NCHC) picked up first-period goals by Mattias Samuelsson and Ethen Frank, while Hugh McGing and Rhett Kingston each had two assists. The WMU penalty kill finished a perfect 4-for-4 on the night.
 
Western Michigan jumped out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to Samuelsson's first goal of the season just 2:21 into the game. Kingston had the puck behind the net and left a no-look pass to McGing. McGing fired a shot on net but the rebound kicked out to Samuelsson in the left circle. Samuelsson settled the puck before firing a wrister into the top-right corner of the net.
 
Frank put WMU up 2-0 at 10:57 in the first period. McGing fed the puck to Kingston in the slot. He tried to dangle through traffic but the puck slipped ahead. Frank swooped in from the right circle and lifted it under the crossbar and in for his fourth goal of the season and third in two games.  The second assist for Kingston marked a career-best for helpers in a game.
 
Denver scored midway through the second period at 10:14 to cut the lead to 2-1. Jaakko Hekkinen put in a loose puck after Bussi had been knocked to the ice.
 
The Pioneers outshot the Broncos 15-5 in the second period but WMU flipped the script in the third period, outshooting DU 16-8. Overall, Denver outshot Western Michigan 36-33 on the night.
 
The two teams battle again on Saturday night at 9:07 p.m. with coverage provided by NCHC.tv and the Bronco Radio Network.