KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Senior forward Dawson DiPietro netted his first collegiate hat trick and freshman goalie Brandon Bussi made a career-high 39 saves as the Western Michigan hockey team completed the sweep of Colorado College after a 6-2 win at Lawson Ice Arena on Saturday night.
 
DiPietro added an assist for a four-point night and was joined by his linemate Wade Allison, who had a goal and three assists for four points. Austin Ruechhoff, who centered the pair, had two assists and finished +5. The Broncos (9-9-4, 5-5-2-2 NCHC) also picked up goals from Hugh McGing and Brett Van Os. CC outshot WMU 41-39 on the night.
 
McGing gave the Broncos an early 1-0 lead on a short-handed goal at 3:49 in the first period. Mattias Samuelsson cleared the zone up to Cole Gallant in the neutral zone. Gallant skated in and got a short-handed chance on Matt Vernon, who made the save. Gallant collected his own rebound and went behind the net, finding a charging McGing just in front of the net and the senior captain banged it in. Samuelsson picked up his sixth assist on the season, while Gallant picked up his ninth and extended his point streak to three straight games with a helper.
 
CC responded just 1:04 later on the same power play, with Grant Cruikshank getting a feed from Kristian Blumenschein in the slot and putting it past Bussi to tie it up at 1-1.
DiPietro netted his first on the night at 10:43 in the first period to retake the lead. DiPietro picked up a pass from Allison behind the net and held the puck until making a move to put the wraparound chance in the net for his fifth goal of the season. The assist was Allison's fourth of the season and Kale Bennett picked up his fourth.
 
DiPietro scored the first of three Bronco goals in the second period at 5:26. This time he finished a rebound on a shot by Rueschhoff for his sixth goal of the season and second on the night. Rueschhoff picked up his fourth assist on the season and Allison notched his fifth and second of the night.
 
Van Os pushed the lead to 4-1 after scoring off his own rebound at 17:27 in the second period. Bussi came out of his crease to get a loose puck and passed it up to Van Os, who got a shot off from the right circle and then put the rebound in from the slot for his second goal of the season. The assist was Bussi's first career point.
 
Allison netted his second goal of the weekend with 8.8 seconds left in the period. Ronnie Attard had a blast on net saved by Vernon. DiPietro pushed the rebound through the slot and Allison hammered it into the net for his third goal of the season and third point on the night.
 
Alex Berardinelli scored on the power play at 1:44 in the third period, scoring on a goal-mouth scramble.
 
DiPietro completed the hat trick just 23 seconds later to push the lead to 6-2. Allison chipped it up to DiPietro at center ice and he dished it off to Rueschhoff for the 2-on-1 rush. Rueschhoff then passed it through the slot to DiPietro and he tapped it in the net for his seventh goal of the season.
 
Western Michigan stays at home next weekend to host 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.