Men's Ice Hockey | November 07, 2019

THIS WEEK
Western Michigan takes a pause from National Collegiate Hockey Conference competition to take on state rival Ferris State in a home-and-home series. The Broncos host the Bulldogs on Friday at 7:05 p.m. before heading up to Big Rapids on Saturday for an 8:07 p.m. puck drop. 

HOW TO FOLLOW
• FRIDAY - Video: NCHC.tv | Audio: 96.5 FM/jackfm965.com
• SATURDAY - Video: WCHA.tv | Audio: 106.9 FM/590 AM/wkzo.com

LAST WEEK
• FRIDAY: Western Michigan opened NCHC play on the road at Colorado College, taking the opening game of the series 6-3. 

The Broncos trailed 3-1 midway through the second period when freshman forward Jason Polin netted his first collegiate goal to spark a rally of five unanswered goals to carry the team to victory. Dawson DiPietro tied it up at 3-3 at 5:33 in the third period. At 7:01 Paul Washe netted the game-winner to push ahead 4-3. Drew Worrad added his second goal of the night at 13:20 to give the Broncos a 5-3 lead before Josh Passolt sealed the game with his first goal of the season at 17:38. 

• SATURDAY: Western Michigan had to rally again on Saturday, this time battling CC to a 4-4 tie and then winning in round two of a sudden death shootout to earn the extra point.

This time it was WMU that jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals by Washe and Ronnie Attard at 3:41 and 7:27 in the first period. The Tigers erased the deficit with goals at 9:18 and 15:37, heading into the first intermission at a 2-2 deadlock. Worrad's third goal of the weekend came at 1:42 into the second period to push the Broncos ahead but a breakaway goal by Ben Copeland off a turnover tied it back up at 3:41. Colorado College took its first and only lead of the game at 19:06 in the second period on a power play goal by Bailey Conger. The Broncos outshot the Tigers 14-8 in the final period and broke through with 24 seconds left on an extra-attacker goal by Attard to tie it up. Neither team took advantage of the regulation overtime or the three-on-three overtime before Ethen Frank and Josh Passolt scored in the shootout to give WMU the extra point. 

THE FERRIS STATE BULLDOGS | 2-5-0
• THE SERIES: After a sweep by Western Michigan last season, the Broncos lead the all-time series at 81-52-13. WMU has been particularly dominant under head coach Andy Murray, going 12-1-3. Hugh McGing and Josh Passolt lead the team in scoring against the Bulldogs, each with five points. McGIng has a goal and five assists in six games, while Passolt has two goals and three assists in four games. Senior goalie Ben Blacker has played four career games against FSU with a 3-1-0 record, a 2.01 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. 

• SONS OF BRONCOS: Ferris State has two players that are sons Western Michigan hockey alums. Senior defenseman and Boston Bruins' draft pick Cameron Clarke is the son of Chris Clarke, who played for the Broncos from 1987-91. Clarke, a defenseman like his son, had a very productive career with WMU, playing in 160 career games with 16 goals and 97 assists for 113 points. Freshman forward Dallas Tulik is the son of former WMU captain Brian Tulik. Tulik holds the all-time games played record in Western Michigan history at 168 games from 1987-92. As a shutdown defenseman, he also produced 16 goals and 33 assists for 49 career points. 

• SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: Ferris State enters Friday's game on a four-game losing streak and a 2-5-0 on the season. Four of FSU's five losses have been by one goal. The other loss, a 6-4 decision against Northern Michigan, was a one-goal game until an empty-net goal by the Wildcats pushed their lead to two in the waning moments. 

Senior forward Jason Tackett, junior forward Marshall Moise and freshman defenseman Jake Willets are tied for the team lead in scoring with seven points for an offense that averages 3.29 goals per game, ranking 18th in the nation. Tackett and Moise each have three goals and four assists, while Willets leads the team in assists with seven. Junior forward Lukas Finner leads the team with four goals this season. Senior Nate Kallen is the top goal-scoring blue-liner with three goals. 

Sophomore Roni Salmenkangas has played the majority of the minutes in goal, starting in five of the seven games. He has a 2-2-0 record with a 3.42 goals against average and a .889 save percentage. The Bulldogs rank 48th in scoring defense, allowing 3.57 goals per game. 

FSU's power play ranks 17th in the nation at 23.3 percent (7-for-30). Moise and Finner each have tallied twice on the man advantage to lead the Bulldogs. 

Ferris State's penalty kill is tied for 29th at 83.3 percent (30-for-36) and the team is the most penalized in the nation, averaging 20.7 minutes per game in the sin bin.  

WONDERFUL WEEKEND FOR WASHE
Junior forward Paul Washe had the weekend of his career in WMU's series up at Colorado College. Washe finished with five points on two goals and three assists, leading to being named Bauer NCHC Forward of the Week and the NCAA Hockey No. 2 Star of the Week. The Clarkson, Mich., native leads Western Michigan in points through the first eight games, tallying nine on four goals and five assists. He needs just two more points to match his career best for points in a season of 11 that he set as a sophomore. Washe's emergence has also led to a resurgence of the power play, which is 4-for-13 in the last three games. 

THREE OF FOUR
After playing just two of its first eight games away from home, Western Michigan is set for three of its next four at Lawson Ice Arena. Next weekend the Broncos welcome Omaha for their NCHC home opener.  

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.