Men's Ice Hockey | January 02, 2020

THIS WEEK
No. 19 Western Michigan returns to action after a long break, taking on old rival Notre Dame in a home-and-home series on Friday, Jan. 3 and Sunday, Jan. 5. The Broncos travel to South Bend on Friday for a 7:05 p.m. start on NBC Sports Network. The Fighting Irish make the trip to Lawson Ice Arena for the rare Sunday tilt, starting at 5:05 p.m. 

LAST TIME OUT
The last time Western Michigan was in action the Broncos suffered a sweep at the hands of now No. 1 North Dakota on Dec. 6-7.

In the series opener it was a goaltending battle, with UND's Adam Scheel making 41 saves in a 1-0 overtime win for the Fighting Hawks. WMU goalie Brandon Bussi made 33 saves but Gavin Hain scored the lone goal with 1:20 left in overtime. 

The following night the Broncos fell 8-2 to North Dakota. UND jumped out to a 4-0 lead through the first two periods before Cole Gallant's first goal of the season cut the lead to 4-1 just 55 seconds into the third. The Fighting Hawks went ahead 5-1 before Austin Rueschhoff cut the lead back to three, 5-2. North Dakota added three more goals in the remaining 9:46.

NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH | 9-7-2
• THE SERIES: Western Michigan leads the all-time series 43-37-11 but the two teams have not met since a home-and-home series back on Jan. 8-9, 2016. WMU is 6-6-3 all-time against the Fighting Irish under head coach Andy Murray. No player on WMU's roster has played against UND. 

• SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH: Notre Dame snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 3-0 shutout win over Penn State back on Dec. 14. UND currently sits in fourth place in the Big 10 with a 5-3-1 record.

The Fighting Irish ranks 28th in the nation in goals per game at 2.82. A trio of senior forward sit at the top of the scoring chart for UND, led by Mike O'Leary with 17 points on seven goals and 10 assists. Cal Burke and Cam Morris sit just behind him with 14 on four goals and 10 assists each. Freshman forward Trevor Janicke is tied with O'Leary for the team lead with seven goals to go with his three assists. Sophomore defenseman Nick Leivermann is the top scorer from the blue line with 10 points on three goals and seven assists. 

UND ranks tied for 38th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 2.94 goals per game. Senior Cale Morris has played in 14 of the 18 games this season, posting a 6-6-2 record with a 2.85 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. Morris also has the team's lone shutout of the season. Freshman Ryan Bischel has appeared in six games with a 3-1-0 record, a 2.68 goals against average and a .914 save percentage. 

The Fighting Irish power play ranks 26th in the nation at 19.2 percent (10-for-52). O'Leary leads the team with three tallies with the man advantage, while Lievermann and fellow defenseman Matt Hellickson each have two. UND's penalty kill ranks 49th in the nation at 76.9 percent (40-for-52), but average just 7.6 minutes per game in the box.  

FULL STRENGTH, ALMOST
Through the first 16 games this season the Broncos have yet to be at complete strength due to injuries. 
Cam Lee (10), Wade Allison (9), Ronnie Attard (6), Josh Passolt (4), Drew Worrad (4), Mattias Samuelsson (4), Ethen Frank (1) and Hugh McGing (1) have all missed time due to injuries. All are healthy and available for this weekend's series with the exception of Samuelsson, who is captaining Team USA at the World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic. The group of eight players have combined to rack up 55 points so far this season, including 18 goals. 

THE MARATHON BEGINS
Western Michigan's 26-day break ends with Friday's game at Notre Dame. From there on out the Broncos have no bye weeks the rest of the season. WMU will play 10 consecutive weekends to wrap up the regular season before the NCHC Playoffs begin on March 13. Twelve of the 20 games will be played at Lawson Ice Arena and the Broncos will not have back-to-back weeks on the road throughout the stretch. Four of the 10 series (Notre Dame, Minnesota-Duluth x2, North Dakota) are against teams ranked in the nation's top 15. 

SATURDAY NIGHT BLUES
The Broncos have had trouble in the Saturday game of a weekend series during its past three. WMU has lost all three of its last Saturday games by a combined score of 20-6, suffering losses of 6-4, 6-1 and 8-2. Until the 6-3 loss against Omaha, the Broncos had posted a 3-1-2 record on Saturdays. Western Michigan gets to skip the Saturday game this week, with the Broncos taking on Notre Dame at home on Sunday at 5:05 p.m. 

QUICK HITS
• FOUR AT FOUR: Four Broncos currently sit at four goals scored so far this season: Ethen Frank, Dawson DiPietro and Ronnie Attard. Only three sit above them with Drew Worrad and Austin Rueschhoff at five and Paul Washe at seven.

• THE BLACK AND BLUE: WMU defensemen Luke Bafia and Kale Bennett both rank in the top 15 in blocks per game, with Bafia leading the nation at 2.50. Bafia sits in 13th at 2.06. Notre Dame and Wisconsin are the only other two teams in the nation with two players in the top 15. WMU also has two forwards in the top 15 in blocks per game among their position group. Hugh McGing sits eight with 1.27 per game and Ethen Frank is 14th with 1.13.

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.