SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The 19th-ranked Western Michigan hockey team opened 2020 with a hard-fought 1-1 tie at No. 15 Notre Dame on Friday night at the Compton Family Arena.
 
Goalies from both teams stood out on the night with freshman Brandon Bussi making 31 stops for the Broncos (7-7-3) and Cale Morris making 42 for the Fighting Irish. WMU's lone goal came from senior defenseman Luke Bafia in the second period. Western Michigan outshot Notre Dame 43-33 on the night and the penalty kill held UND scoreless on three attempts.
 
WMU opened the first period with a dominant performance, outshooting the Fighting Irish 13-2. It was UND that broke through first, though. Cam Morris scored 9:49 into the second period, scoring off a rebound on a shot by Michael Graham from in front of the net.
The Broncos responded 53 seconds later to tie it up at 1-1 on Bafia's first tally of the season. After a chance by Wade Allison was cleared to the boards, Rhett Kingston picked up the puck and went behind the net. He fed it to Bafia in the right circle and the senior defenseman got it past Morris. The assist was Kingston's fifth of the season.
 
Notre Dame had the advantage in shots in the third period, 14-10, but Bussi kept the game tied and the two teams went to overtime.
Halfway through the OT period Ethen Frank fired a shot on net. The puck bounced off of Paul Washe and both went into the net but the referees immediately ruled it no goal. The call was reviewed and confirmed.
 
WMU outshot UND 5-4 in the overtime period.
 
The two teams battle again on Sunday evening at 5:05 p.m. at Lawson Ice Arena. Standing-room only tickets are available at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets.