Hockey Welcomes No. 4 Minnesota Duluth for Top 10 Showdown

THIS WEEK
No. 10/11 Western Michigan opens National Collegiate Hockey Conference play hosting No. 4/4 Minnesota Duluth on Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Both games can be streamed live on NCHC.tv and heard live on the Bronco Radio Network.

LAST WEEK
The Broncos took their first true road trip on the season, heading out east to take on Colgate. WMU earned a hard-fought and thrilling sweep over the Raiders after a 6-5 win on Friday and a 2-1 win in overtime on Saturday.

In the series opener the Broncos spotted Colgate a 5-0 lead. The Raiders scored two goals in the first and then added three power play goals in the second period, taking a 5-0 lead on Alex Young's goal on the man advantage at 11:52. Then the comeback started. Jason Polin got WMU on the board with a goal at 17:23 to cut it to 5-1. Junior defenseman Ronnie Attard netted his first of his three goals just 42 seconds later to cut the lead to 5-2. Polin added his second of the night at 3:55 in the third period to bring Western Michigan within two. Paul Washe lit the lamp at 12:56 to cut the lead down to one and then Attard squared the game up at 5-5 with his second of the night at 14:14. Attard then fired a shot that bounced off of two Raiders and into the net at 18:47 to complete the hat trick and net the game-winner. Attard finished with four points on the three goals and an assist, while Polin had two goals and two assists on the night.

Saturday the Broncos had to come from behind again, but only faced a one-goal deficit after Young scored at 17:27 in the second period. Washe tied it up at 8:32 in the third period. The game went to overtime and Attard set up Ethen Frank on a two-on-zero rush, after a big opening save by Brandon Bussi, for the game-winner.

JUST THE TWO OF US
Junior Ronnie Attard made a bit of history in Friday's comeback. His hat trick was only the second by a defenseman in the history of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. He joins teammate Michael Joyaux, who became the first to reach the mark last season at St. Cloud State.

CAREER HIGHS
Attard, junior forward Jason Polin and sophomore forward Ty Glover all set new career highs in last Friday's win. Attard had four points with his hat trick and an assist, Polin had two goals and two assists, while Glover had a career-best three assists in the win.

SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS, EVERYBODY
Western Michigan has outshot its opponent in all six games this season. WMU has averaged 35.83 shots per game, while allowing 23.83. In Friday's win over Colgate the Broncos fired off 53, the first time the team reached the half-century mark since Oct. 6, 2017 when they totaled 50 in a 6-1 win over Ferris State.

Although it is early in the season, the Broncos are back on track averaging over 30 shots per game. WMU had averaged at least 30 in four straight seasons until last year when it only averaged 28.9.

NO. 4 MINNESOTA DULUTH BULLDOGS (5-1-0, 0-0-0 NCHC)
- THE SERIES: The Bulldogs lead the all-time series at 23-12-3. The last meeting came in the NCHC Quarterfinals at Ralph Engelstad Arena back in March, with UMD ending WMU's season 5-4 in overtime. Minnesota Duluth is 9-6-1 in Kalamazoo but the Broncos swept the Bulldogs last season with wins of 4-0 and 4-1.

- SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: UMD's trip to Western Michigan is its first time leaving the state of Minnesota this season. The Bulldogs opened the season with a home-and-home sweep of Bemidji State, lost to Michigan and defeated Providence in the Ice Breaker Tournament and most recently swept Minnesota in a home-and-home series. Every opponent they have played this season has been ranked in the top 15.

The Bulldogs rank 31st in the nation in goals per game at 2.83. Minnesota Duluth has taken a scoring by committee approach so far this season with 12 different players scoring goals in the first six games. Sophomore forward Blake Biondi leads the team with six points on a team-best three goals and three assists. Kobe Roth leads the team in assists with four and also has a goal to be one of three players tied at five points. Sophomore Wyatt Kaiser and freshman Owen Gallatin are the top point producers from the blue line, each with a goal and two assists so far this season.

Junior Ryan Fanti has started four of the six games between the pipes for UMD with a 4-0-0 record, 1.75 goals against average with one shutout, and a .926 save percentage. As a team, the Bulldogs are tied for 19th in scoring defense, allowing 2.33 goals per game.

Minnesota-Duluth's power play ranks 45th in the nation at 15.8 percent (3-for-19). Noah Cates, Kobe Roth and Casey Gilling have each tallied with the man advantage. The penalty kill ranks 40th in the nation at 77.8 percent (14-for-18).

ON THE HORIZON
Western Michigan heads on the road for the first time in NCHC play, traveling out west to take on No. 11 Denver on Friday at 9:07 p.m. and Saturday at 8:07 p.m.