KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The 10th-ranked Western Michigan Hockey team split with No. 4/3 Minnesota-Duluth after falling, 3-0, on Saturday night at Lawson Ice Arena.

Junior goalie Brandon Bussi had a career-high 40 saves but the Broncos (6-2-0, 1-1-0 NCHC) was unable to get the puck past Ryan Fanti, who made 35 saves in the shutout performance.

Ben Almquist gave the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead on a goal at 9:28 in the first period.

WMU was awarded a major power play after Louie Roehl slashed fifth-year senior Ethan Frank and Frank went hard into the boards.  The power play extended into the second period but the Broncos were kept off the board. Western Michigan had its opportunities limited on the power play for most of the night and ended up 0-for-6.

Tanner Laderoute scored short-handed at 5:40 in the second period to push UMD's lead to 2-0 on his first of two goals on the night. He scored his second at 12:10 in the third period to push the score to 3-0.

The Broncos picked up the attack in the third period, firing off 18 of their 35 shots in the final 20 minutes.

Western Michigan heads on the road for the first time in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play, traveling to No. 11/13 Denver to take on the Pioneers on Friday at 9 p.m. ET and Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. Both games can be seen live on NCHC.tv.