KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The 12th-ranked Western Michigan hockey team fell to Minnesota-Duluth, 5-4, on a late third-period goal at Lawson Ice Arena on Friday night.
WMU was on the power play and when it expired UMD defenseman Darian Gotz popped out of the box and Dominic James found him for the breakaway goal with 65 seconds remaining. The Broncos pulled Cameron Rowe for the extra attacker in the final minute and put several chances on target but were unable to find the back of the net.
The Bulldogs took an early 2-0 lead in a wild start to the game. Kyle Bettens scored at 2:45 in the first period and Cole Spicer followed with a goal off a rebound at 4:33.
Western Michigan responded with three straight goals to take a 3-2 lead. Jamie Rome scored off a rebound on a shot by Tim Washe just 21 seconds after the Spicer goal to cut the lead to 2-1. Rome tallied his sixth goal of the season and Washe picked up his sixth assist and junior forward Oliver McDonald tallied his third helper of the season.
Minutes later Cam Knuble deflected the puck behind the UMD net and was called for a delayed penalty. A Bulldog defenseman tried to break out from behind the net, but accidently flipped the puck off the back of UMD goalie Matthew Thiessen's leg and into the net, tying the game at 2-2. Knuble was credited for the goal, his first of the season, as the last Bronco to have played the puck. He was then called for holding, giving Minnesota-Duluth a power play.
Early in the power play Luke Grainger deflected a pass and made a steal near the UMD blue line, skating in on Thiessen and scoring short-handed to give Western Michigan a 3-2 lead. The unassisted goal was his fourth of the season and the team's second short-handed goal this year.
While still on the power play, the Bulldogs scored at 9:03 to tie it up at 3-3. Freshman forward Ben Steeves fired a shot from the right circle that deflected off of a WMU stick and into the top-left corner of the net.
UMD retook the lead at 1:47 in the second period on a goal by Quinn Olson, scoring from the right circle after a scramble for the puck off a faceoff.
The Broncos tied It up at 5:01 in the second on a power play goal by Polin. Ryan McAllister had the puck in the left circle and dished it down low to Polin. Polin's first attempt was save, but he punched the rebound in for his team-leading 10th goal of the season. McAllister picked up his nation-leading 17th assist on the play, while senior defenseman Carter Berger tallied his eight.
The Bulldogs narrowly outshot the Broncos 33-31 on the night. WMU finished 1-for-3 on the power play, while UMD finished 1-for-2.
The two teams battle it out again on Saturday night at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets.
