THIS WEEK
The 17th-ranked Western Michigan hockey team gets its first test of the season against a nationally ranked opponent this weekend, battling No. 13/12 Notre Dame in a home-and-home series. The Broncos travel to South Bend on Friday for a 7 p.m. puck drop before hosting the Fighting Irish on Saturday at 6 p.m. Friday's game can be watched live on PeacockTV, with Saturday's on NCHC.tv.
 
LAST WEEK
Western Michigan picked up a sweep in a home-and-home series with Bowling Green.
 
The Broncos opened the series last Thursday with a 4-1 win at Lawson Ice Arena. It was the team's first home game of the season and WMU jumped out to a 1-0 lead on an early goal by freshman forward Ethan Wolthers. Cole Gallant pushed the lead to 2-0 just 1:06 into the second period before Austen Swankler responded 61 seconds later to cut the deficit in half. The Broncos kept the pressure on and finally pushed ahead 3-1 on a goal by Max Sasson at 12:30 in the third period. The goal was set up by freshman Ryan McAllister and Sasson returned the favor just 2:04 later for McAllister's second goal of the season to push it to 4-1. Cameron Rowe made 22 saves as the Broncos picked up their third-straight win.
 
WMU routed BGSU on Friday in Bowling Green, 8-2. The Broncos wasted no time getting out to an early lead with Zak Galambos netting his first of two goals at 1:14 in the first period. Hugh Larkin netted his first of two goals in the period at 4:42 to push the lead to 2-0. Max Sasson netted his first of two goals at 17:43 to make it 3-0 before Larkin netted the fourth goal at 19:39. McAllister opened the second period with a goal to push the lead to 5-0 before Eric Parker finally got the Falcons on the board at 7:27. Luke Grainger opened the third period with a goal just 44 seconds after the start. Evan Dougherty scored on the power play to cut the lead to 6-2, with Galambos and Sasson both adding power play goals in the second half of the third period.
 
THE NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (2-1-1)
THE SERIES: The two teams have not met since the 2019-20 season, with the teams tying in the series opener in South Bend and the Fighting Irish downing the Broncos 4-1 at Lawson Ice Arena. WMU leads the all-time series at 43-38-12.
 
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH: Notre Dame opened the season at the 2022 Ice Breaker Tournament out at Denver, falling to the top-ranked Pioneers 5-2 and tying with Air Force 5-5. Last week UND hosted Northern Michigan, sweeping the Wildcats with wins of 3-1 and 5-4.
 
Ryder Rolston, a fifth-round pick by the Colorado Avalanche back in 2020, leads the team in points with six on three goals and three assists. Bentley transfer Drew Bavaro leads the team in assists with four and is the top-scoring defenseman on the team with five points. Trevor Janicke and Solag Bakich each have four points on two goals and two assists.
 
Ryan Bischel has started in all four games this season, posting a 2-1-0 record with a 3.43 goals against average and a .886 save percentage.
The Fighting Irish power play is at 29.4 percent (5-for-17) and the penalty kill is at 77.7 percent (12-for-18). UND, on average, has outshot opponents 32.50 to 29.75.
 
NEAR THE TOP
Heading into the weekend the Broncos have the third-best scoring offense in the country, averaging 4.60 goals per game. WMU sits behind Penn State (5.50) and Michigan (4.25) in the rankings.
 
AT THE TOP
Ryan McAllister is tied for the top-scoring freshman in the nation with eight points on three goals and five assists. McAllister sits tied with Michigan's Adam Fantilli.
 
CLEANING UP
The Broncos took three of the four NCHC Player of the Week Awards after their sweep of Bowling Green. Ryan McAllister had five points on the weekend and was named NCHC Rookie of the Week. Max Sasson also had five points and earned NCHC Forward of the Week, while Zak Galambos had three points and finished +7 to earn NCHC Defenseman of the Week. It was the first honors for any WMU player this season.
 
SETTLING IN JUST FINE
WMU has 14 new players on the team and they seem to be settling in just fine. Six of the new skaters have seen action and have combined for nine of the team's 23 goals and 17 of the team's 38 assists. Freshman Ryan McAllister leads the team with eight points on three goals and five assists. Both transfer defensemen Carter Berger and Zak Galambos each have four points, while freshman forward Ethan Wolthers has two goals and three assists.
 
ON THE HORIZON
Western Michigan battles the University of Michigan in a home-and-home series next Friday and Saturday. The Broncos travel to Ann Arbor for a 7 p.m. puck drop on Friday before hosting the Wolverines on Saturday at 6 p.m.