Men's Ice Hockey | January 16, 2020
THIS WEEK
Western Michigan returns for the first of four straight home games, hosting Colorado College on Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on NCHC.tv, with radio coverage provided by the Bronco Radio Network on 96.5 FM and at www.jackfm965.com. Saturday's radio coverage will be joined in progress after the conclusion of the WMU men's basketball game.
LAST WEEK
WMU earned two points on the road at defending National Champions Minnesota-Duluth last weekend. The Broncos fell in the opener, 6-3, but rebounded on Saturday night with a 3-3 tie and 1-0 shootout win.
On Friday, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Quinn Olson and Tanner Laderoute at 11:03 and 13:36 in the first period. Ethen Frank cut the deficit in half on his fifth goal of the season after scoring off a faceoff in the UMD zone just 25 seconds later. Paul Washe scored during a major power play to tie the game up at 2-2 at 5:47 in the second period. Noah Cates gave the lead back to Minnesota-Duluth at 10:38 on his 11th goal of the season. Rhett Kingston tied it up at 3-3 at 13:59, but the Broncos surrendered two goals early in the third period at 4:54 and 7:21 before the Bulldogs added an empty-net goal with 41 seconds left.
On Saturday, senior goalie Ben Blacker made his first start since Nov. 3, 2018 and made 32 saves on the night, while stopping two during the shootout to help the Broncos earn the extra point. WMU took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Josh Passolt at 13:46 in the first period. Justin Richards tied it up just 1:22 into the second period but Kingston netted his second goal on the weekend just 35 seconds later to give the Broncos the lead back. Passolt netted his second of the night with 1.2 seconds left in the second period to push the lead to 3-1. Laderoute cut the lead in half with a goal at 9:11 in the third period before Scott Perunovich tied it up at 11:48. Neither team took advantage of the regulation overtime period or the 3-on-3. Blacker made two stops in the shootout, while Hugh McGing converted in the second round to seal the win.
COLORADO COLLEGE TIGERS | 8-9-1, 3-6-1-0 NCHC
• THE SERIES: After a win and a tie in Colorado Springs back in November, Western Michigan now holds a 13-8-5 lead in the all-time series against Colorado College. The Broncos are 9-3-1 at Lawson Ice Arena against the Tigers, with two of CC's three wins coming in the NCHC Quarterfinals last season. Junior forward Josh Passolt leads all Broncos with 15 points on three goals and 12 assists in 11 career games against the Tigers. Austin Rueschhoff has 10 points on seven goals and three assists in 11 games, while Cam Lee has nine points on three goals and six assists.
• THE LAST TIME: Western Michigan opened up NCHC play at Colorado College back on Nov. 1-2, with the Broncos taking the first game 6-3 and tying the second game 4-4, before winning in a shootout.
In the series opener, CC jumped out to a 3-1 lead after Chris Wilkie tallied at 8:49 in the second period, but it was all WMU after that. Drew Worrad scored earlier in the second period but after Wilkie's goal Dawson DiPietro, Paul Washe, Worrad and Josh Passolt all scored unanswered to complete the comeback.
On Saturday, WMU jumped out to a 2-0 lead on early goals by Washe and Ronnie Attard. Colorado College battled back to tie it up at 2-2 after the first 20 minutes. Worrad scored his third on the weekend to push ahead 3-2, but Ben Copeland tied it back up at 3-3 early in the second period before Bailey Conger gave CC its first lead of the game at 19:06 in the second. WMU fired off 14 shots on goal in the third period and pulled Brandon Bussi from net for the extra attacker. Attard scored with the extra skater to tie it at 4-4 before WMU won the shootout, 2-1, after regulation and 3-on-3 overtime periods were scoreless.
• SCOUTING THE TIGERS, AGAIN: Colorado College heads into the weekend tied for sixth place in the NCHC with 10 points, sitting just three points back of Western Michigan. CC is 2-4-0 in its last six games, recently splitting at home against Miami with a 6-1 loss and a 4-2 win.
The Tigers rank 25th nationally in scoring offense, averaging 2.94 goals per game thanks largely to the work of senior captain Chris Wilkie. The forward has 15 goals on the season, more than double the output of any other player on the team. His impressive tally has him leading the nation in goals per game at 0.83. Wilkie also has eight assists for a team-high 23 points. Senior forward Nick Halloran has 17 points and is tied with sophomore defenseman Brandon Yoon for the team lead in assists, each with 10 so far this season. Zach Berzolla, Connor Mayer, Kristian Blumenschein and Brady Smith each have one goal from the blue line.
CC ranks 48th in scoring defense, allowing 3.33 goals per game. Freshman Matt Vernon, son of former Detroit Red Wing Mike Vernon, has started in 11 of the 18 games between the pipes for Colorado College. Vernon holds a 5-5-1 record with a 3.03 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. Senior Ryan Ruck has a 3-4-0 record with a 3.52 goals against average and a .900 save percentage in seven starts this season.
Colorado College's power play sits 44th in the nation at 15.8 percent (12-for-76). Wilkie leads the team with four tallies with the man advantage. Halloran, Bailey Conger and Christiano Versich also each have two. CC's penalty kill ranks dead last in the nation at 66.7 percent (44-for-66).
ENDING THE DROUGHT
Western Michigan entered last weekend's series at Minnesota-Duluth having scored just eight goals combined in its last six games. The Broncos ended the scoring drought with six goals on the weekend, scoring three in each game. The last time WMU had scored at least three goals in a game was a 6-3 loss to Omaha on Nov. 16.
Also ending droughts were junior forwards Paul Washe and Josh Passolt. Washe scored a goal in Friday's loss, ending a seven-game pointless streak with his team-leading eighth goal of the season. Passolt had went eight games without lighting the lamp before scoring twice in Saturday's 3-3 tie.
SAVE THE DATE
Western Michigan head coach Andy Murray will be hosting a Chalk Talk on Tuesday, Feb. 4 in the front lobby of Lawson Ice Arena. Season ticket holders may attend for free, with a charge of just $5 to anyone else. Get an inside look at the team, its strategies, upcoming opponents and more. A reservation is required by Jan. 30. Please RSVP to Lynn Ross at Lynn.Ross@wmich.edu or by calling 269-397-3049.
ON THE HORIZON
Western Michigan is back at home next weekend, hosting defending NCHC regular season champions St. Cloud State on Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are available by calling 1-888-4-WMUTIX and online at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets.
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.
