KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan hockey team netted two goals in the third period to down rival Ferris State, 4-2, in front of a sellout crowd at Lawson Ice Arena on Friday night.
Tied 2-2 in the third period, freshman Ronnie Attard netted the game-winning goal at 11:12 and Austin Rueschhoff followed up with a goal at 16:12 to seal the win. The Broncos (4-3-2, 1-0-1 NCHC) also picked up goals from Hugh McGing and Paul Washe. Washe had an assist to go with his goal for his fourth multi-point game of the campaign. Freshman goalie Brandon Bussi made 21 saves on the night to pick up his fourth win of the season. WMU outshot FSU 29-23 overall, with both teams blocking 13 shots each.
Western Michigan struck first at 12:28 in the first period. Drew Worrad won a draw in the Ferris State zone. The puck bounced off of Wade Allison and McGing took the puck in on net and went top shelf for his second goal of the season.
The Broncos took their 1-0 lead into the second period, but it was erased early in the frame at 1:40 on a goal by Justin Michaelian. Jake Willets picked up a loose puck and had a 2-on-1 rush with Michaelian, feeding him the puck in the right circle for the goal to tie it up at 1-1.
WMU retook the lead, 2-1, at 10:15 in the second on Washe's fifth of the season. Ethen Frank prevented the Bulldogs from clearing the zone, sending the puck into the corner. Lawton Courtnall won a battle along the boards and quickly passed the puck to Washe on the far side of the post for the goal. The assist was Frank's sixth of the season, with Courtnall picking up his second.
Once again, Ferris State responded, this time tying up the game at 15:20 in the second period. Jake Transit scored on the power play, shooting a puck through traffic from the left point for his third goal of the season.
The two teams battled through the first half of the third period before FSU took back-to-back penalties to give the Broncos a 5-on-3 advantage. FSU killed off the first part, but Attard fired a hard shot from the left point over Bulldog goalie Austin Shaw's right shoulder and in to give WMU the lead, 3-2, at 11:12. Sophomore defenseman Michael Joyaux set up the goal for this sixth assist of the season, with Washe also picking up a helper and tying him with Joyaux and Frank for the team lead in assists.
Rueschhoff put the game out of reach with 3:48 to go on his second goal of the season. Josh Passolt played the puck over the blue line to Dawson DiPietro, creating a 2-on-1 with Rueschhoff. DiPietro flipped the puck through the slot for the one-timer for Rueschhoff and into the net. The assist was DiPietro's fourth of the season, with Passolt tallying his fifth.
The two teams meet again on Saturday night, this time up in Big Rapids, Mich., at 8:07 p.m. The game will be streamed live on FloHockey.tv with live audio from the Bronco Radio Network on 590 AM/106.9 FM in the Kalamazoo area and online at wkzo.com.
