ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- The 17th-ranked Western Michigan hockey team split with No. 4 St. Cloud State after falling 4-1 on Saturday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.  

SCSU scored just 1:05 into the game when Grant Cruikshank punched in a rebound from the slot for his second goal of the weekend. Aidan Spellacy gave the Huskies a 2-0 lead at 14:52 in the first period on his first goal of the season.  

WMU was held to just two shots on goal in the first period and St. Cloud State added to its lead midway through the second period on a rebound goal by Jami Krannila to make it 3-0.  

The Broncos picked up the pressure in the third period and finally broke through at 16:42 after Cameron Rowe had been pulled from the net for an extra-attacker. Freshman forward Ryan McAllister fired in a shot from the left circle to cut the lead to 3-1, with Carter Berger and Max Sasson picking up assists on McAllister's sixth goal of the season.  

WMU pulled Rowe again but Kranilla tallied the empty-netter to set the score at 4-1 with 2:25 left to go. 

Western Michigan returns home to host Minnesota-Duluth on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets.