THIS WEEK
The Broncos wind down the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Pod with its final three games this week. WMU battles No. 7 Denver on Tuesday at 4:35 p.m. and then again on Saturday at 9:05 p.m. On Friday Western Michigan takes on Omaha at 8:35 p.m.
 
LAST WEEK
Western Michigan went 2-1-1 in the second week of the pod, picking up its first points of the season in the NCHC standings.
 
After giving up 22 goals in the first three games, WMU opened up week two with a 3-3 tie and shootout loss against Colorado College. After two goals by Paul Washe had tied the game in the second period, WMU went into the final 20 minutes trailing the Tigers 3-2 after a goal by Hunter McKown. Freshman forward Hugh Larkin became the first of WMU's 10 freshmen skaters to light the lamp, tying the game at 14:06. CC won the extra point in the shootout, 2-1, after both teams failed to take advantage of the 3-on-3 overtime.
 
The following night the Broncos picked up their first win of the season, defeating No. 13 St. Cloud State 2-1. Western Michigan scored the opening goal for the first time this season, with Josh Passolt lighting the lamp at 11:06 in the first period to give WMU a 1-0 lead. After a scoreless second period, Brett Van Os pushed the lead to 2-0 just 2:11 into the third period. SCSU scored an extra-attacker goal with 19 seconds left but the Broncos held on. Senior goalie Austin Cain made 20 saves in goal in his first win since 2018.
 
 WMU exploded for a season-high five goals in its 5-2 win over Colorado College on Friday night. WMU once gain scored the opening goal, this time it was Ethen Frank tallying his first of two power play goals on the night to take a 1-0 lead with 17 seconds left in the first period. Bryan Yoon tied it up for CC at 1:23 in the second period but the Broncos responded with five straight goals to blow the game open. Freshman Luke Grainger gave WMU a 2-1 lead with his first collegiate goal at 6:05. Minutes later Passolt netted the eventual game-winning goal to make it 3-1. Jason Polin netted his second goal of the season with three seconds remaining in the second period. Frank tallied his second power play goal of the night to push the lead to 5-1 at 12:20 in the third period before CC added a late goal.
 
Western Michigan had its three-game unbeaten streak snapped on Sunday against No. 1 North Dakota. UND jumped out to a 3-0 lead midway through the second period before the Broncos responded. Frank cut the lead to 3-1 on his fourth goal of the season at 18:01 in the second period. Van Os netted his third of the season at 5:02 in the third period to bring WMU within one. Riese Gaber netted his second of the game just 27 seconds later to push the lead back to 4-2. Brendan Budy made it 5-2 before Drew Worrad cut the lead back to two with 5:36 left to go. UND added an empty-net goal with 43 seconds left.
 
THE DENVER PIONEERS
- THE SERIES: Denver leads the all-time series at 18-10-1 after the teams split a two-game series at DU last season. Tuesday and Saturday's games will be the lone meetings between the two teams this regular season.
 
- SCOUTING THE PIONEERS: Denver dropped its first three games of the pod, all by one goal, to Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota and St. Cloud State. After that, the Pioneers defeated North Dakota and Miami but recently fell to Minnesota-Duluth, 4-1.
 
Freshman forward Carter Savoie has been the talk of the Pod and has scored nearly half of Denver's goals so far this season. The Edmonton Oilers' draft pick has six goals and two assists for a team-best eight points. No other player on the team has more than two goals so far this season. Savoie has done most of his damage on the power play, where four of his goals have been scored. Freshman defenseman Mike Benning leads the team in assists with six and also has one goal from the blue line. Sophomore Magnus Chrona has started every game in net this season for the Pioneers, posting a 2.93 goals against average and a .896 save percentage.
 
Thanks to the work of Savoie, the DU power play sits at 24.1 percent (7-for-29) through the team's first six games. Denver's penalty kill comes in at just 69.6 percent.
 
ETHEN FRANK VERSUS THE STATE OF NEBRASKA
Senior forward Ethen Frank hails from Papillion, Neb., just outside the city of Omaha. Being close to home or playing against his hometown team seems to bring out the best in him.
 
Frank has played 18 collegiate hockey games either in the state of Nebraska or against Omaha in his career with the Broncos. In those games he has posted nine goals and four assists for 13 points. Frank's goal tally versus the state of Nebraska counts for 25.7 percent of his career goal scoring.
 
FITTING RIGHT IN
Freshman defenseman Aidan Fulp has transitioned well into college hockey and has been eating up minutes on the blue line with his defensive pair in Ronnie Attard. Through the first seven games he has posted four assists, which sits second on the team. Fulp and his partner have combined for nine assists on the season, and while he hasn't registered a goal yet, the Westfield, Ind., native has averaged a shot on goal per game. Fulp is far outpacing his point production from his USHL days so far. In three full seasons he averaged 0.25 points per game and has averaged 0.57 to start off his college career.
 
FINDING THE SCORING TOUCH
Senior forward Brett Van Os has three goals in WMU's first seven games this season. With his strong start, the St. Albert, Alberta native has matched his career-best output that he set during his freshman and junior seasons.