ST. CLOUD, Minn. - The 17th-ranked Western Michigan hockey team earned a 4-2 road win at No. 4 St. Cloud State at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Friday night.
The Broncos (8-4-0, 3-0-0 NCHC) scored three times on the power play and held the Huskies to just 21 shots in the victory. Junior defenseman Aidan Fulp, fifth-year senior Jamie Rome, sophomore forward Max Sasson and junior forward Luke Grainger all lit the lamp for WMU. Freshman forward Ryan McAllister had another multipoint night, tallying two assists to push his point streak to five games.
Western Michigan shut down SCSU in the first period, allowing just one shot on goal. Fulp put the Broncos up 1-0 on a power play goal at 18:40. Tim Washe threw the puck near the net and it deflected out to Fulp, who blasted it in from the right circle for his first goal of the season. Washe tallied his fifth assist of the season and Grainger picked up his eighth.
The Broncos were quickly back on the power play and scored with 16 seconds left in the period. Jason Polin passed it to Sasson in the slot for the quick one-timer. Jackson Castor made the initial save but Rome skated in from the right circle to punch in the rebound for his fifth goal of the season. Sasson tallied his 11th assist and Polin picked up his eighth.
SCSU's Grant Cruickshank cut the lead to 2-1 on a power play goal at 7:14 in the second period, scoring on an uncontested shot from the right circle.
The Broncos took a 2-1 lead into the third period before Ethan AuCoin was ejected from the game for a hit to the head on Carter Berger, putting them on a major power play. Sasson scored just 20 seconds into the power play, punching in a loose puck from the left side of the net. McAllister and Berger picked up assists on the eventual game-winning goal at 8:15.
Micah Miller scored a short-handed goal after creating a turnover in the neutral zone on WMU's power play.
Just as the major power play ended, McAllister passed the puck up to Cole Gallant near center ice. Gallant weaved his way through traffic to create a two-on-one rush with Grainger. He dished it off to Grainger, who faked the forehand shot and got Castor to commit, going down to the ice and back-handing it into the net for his third goal of the season.
WMU weathered the storm with Cameron Rowe making 13 of his 19 saves in the third period, including several in the final minutes when SCSU pulled its goalie and had a power play.
The Broncos outshot the Huskies 30-21 overall. WMU finished 3-for-8 on the power play and held SCSU to just 1-for-6.
The two teams battle it out again on Saturday at 7 p.m. EST. The game can be watched live on NCHC.tv and heard live on the Bronco Media Network.
