DULUTH, Minn. – After heading into the third period tied up at 3-3, the Western Michigan hockey team fell at No. 9 Minnesota-Duluth, 6-3, on the road at AMSOIL Arena on Friday night.
 
Kobe Roth netted the game-winning goal 4:54 into the third period. Freshman goalie Brandon Bussi attempted to clear the puck from danger but it bounced off of Roth and he had an open net to put the puck in, giving UMD a 4-3 lead. Swaney scored his first of two goals in the final 20 minutes at 7:21 on a short-handed goal. Nick Wolff passed it ahead to Swaney and he beat Bussi from the right circle to push the lead to 5-3. Swaney later added an empty-net goal with 41 seconds remaining.
 
The Broncos battled back from an early 2-0 deficit with Quinn Olson and Tanner Laderoute scoring at 11:03 and 13:36 in the first period. Ethen Frank cut the lead to 2-1 on his fifth goal of the season just 25 seconds after Laderoute scored. Austin Rueschhoff won the faceoff in the Bulldog zone and Frank took it into the slot and back-handed it past Hunter Shepard. Rueschhoff picked up his second assist of the season on the goal.
 
Early in the second period WMU was given a major power play after UMD star defenseman Scott Perunovich was ejected after a check from behind on Dawson DiPietro. The Broncos responded by tying it up at 2-2 on a goal by Paul Washe at 5:47. Josh Passolt fed the puck to Michael Joyaux at the right point and the sophomore defenseman fired it on net. Shepard made the save and Washe was there to punch in the rebound for his team-leading eighth goal of the season.
 
Noah Cates gave Minnesota Duluth a 3-2 lead after redirecting a shot by Swaney into the net on the power play at 10:38 in the second period, but Western Michigan was once again quick to respond. This time it was Rhett Kingston with a snipe from the right circle after faking a pass to Mattias Samuelsson. Hugh McGing picked up his team-leading 13th assist on the goal, while Brett Van Os tallied his third.
 
UMD outshot WMU 39-38 on the night. Senior goalie Ben Blacker came in after the fifth Minnesota Duluth goal to spell Bussi, making seven saves in 10:19 of action.
 
The two teams battle again on Saturday night at 8:07 p.m.  Due to a conflict with WMU men's basketball, Bronco Radio Network coverage has been moved to 590 AM/106.9 FM WKZO and at www.wkzo.com. The game can be streamed live on NCHC.tv.