THIS WEEK
The 14th-ranked Western Michigan hockey team heads back on the road in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play to take on Omaha on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Both games can be watched live on NCHC.tv and heard live on the Bronco Media Network.
 
LAST WEEK
The Broncos spent Thanksgiving in Nashville for the Music City Hockey Classic. Unfortunately, due to a water main break the Broncos had to take on No. 18 Northeastern at the Ford Ice Center Bellevue on the outskirts of the city instead of Bridgestone Arena. WMU prevailed in a wild game, 6-4, with Jason Polin netting his third hat trick of the season and Ryan McAllister tallying three assists.  

Western Michigan jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 5:16 into the first period on Polin's first of the night. The goal was set up by Carter Berger and McAllister. Aidan McDonaugh tied it up minutes later on his first of two goals on the night for the Huskies, but Polin's second of the night came with 3:23 left in the period to send the Broncos to the intermission with a 2-1 lead. 
Zak Galambos netted his eighth of the season midway through the second period to push the lead to 3-3 but NU struck back with two goals in the final 1:11 to send it to the third period tied up at 3-3. 
McDonough pushed Northeastern ahead, 4-3, with a goal just 3:52 into the third period but Jacob Bauer netted his first goal of the season to tie it up at 4-4. Max Sasson netted the game-winner on the power play, with assists to Galambos and McAllister, with 7:26 remaining. Polin added his hat-trick goal into an empty net with 22 seconds left to play. 

NUMBER ONE
Western Michigan sits at the top in a handful of statistical categories heading into the weekend series against Omaha. 
- WMU leads the nation in goals per game at 4.3 and total goals with 68.
- Senior captain Jason Polin is tied with Omaha's Jack Randl for the nation's lead in goals scored with 13.
- Freshman forward Ryan McAllister is both the NCAA's leading scorer with 29 points and leads the nation in assists with 22. His 22 assists put him seven ahead of the second most in the nation of 15 by Michigan's Adam Fantilli. 
- Senior Zak Galambos is the top goal-scoring defenseman in the nation with eight goals. Galambos had just nine career goals, with a season-best of five, before transferring to WMU from AIC before the start of this season. 

AGAIN
Ryan McAllister repeated as the NCHC Rookie of the Month after posting 16 points in the month of November. McAllister has earned the KJ Branding NCHC Rookie of the Week Award five times so far this season. 

THE OMAHA MAVERICKS (6-6-2, 2-3-1, NCHC)
- THE SERIES: WMU went 3-1 against the Mavericks last season, including a sweep in the NCHC Quarterfinals. The Broncos' success helped cut the all-time series lead by Omaha to 32-24-6. Junior forward Luke Grainger recorded a hat trick in the opening game of the playoffs last season against the Mavericks. 

- SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS: Omaha split with NCHC leaders Denver last weekend on the road. UNO took the opening game 3-0 before the Pioneers doubled them up the next night 6-3. Omaha is just 1-4-1 this season at home. 

The Mavericks are averaging 3.0 goals per game so far this season and 29.2 shots per game. Jack Randl leads the team with 18 points on 13 goals and five assists. His 13 tallies ties him with WMU captain Jason Polin for the most in the nation. Ty Mueller is second on the team with 13 points on four goals and nine assists, while Tyler Weiss has a team-high 10 assists to go with two goals. Jonny Tychonick is the team's top-scoring defenseman with 11 points on two goals and nine assists. 

UNO is giving up 2.7 goals per game, with Jake Kucharski leading the way in goal. Kucharski has a 4-5-2 record with a 2.38 goals against average and a .920 save percentage. Backup Simon Latkoczy is 2-1-0 with a 3.34 goals against average and an .861 save percentage. 

Omaha's power play sits at 26.4 percent (14-for-53) and the penalty kill is at 78.2 percent (12-for-55). Randl leads the team with five power play goals, followed by Matt Miller at three and Jake Pivonka with two. 

ON THE HORIZON
The Broncos return home to host North Dakota next Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 6 p.m. Both games will be live on NCHC.tv and the Bronco Media Network. It's the final home series for 2022, with WMU closing out the year at the 2022 Great Lakes Invitational in Grand Rapids at Van Andel Arena. For ticket information on both series head to www.wmubroncos.com.