THIS WEEK
Western Michigan heads on the road for the final time during the 2021-22 regular season, traveling to No. 7 North Dakota to take on the National Collegiate Hockey Conference leading Fighting Hawks on Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m. Friday's game will be live on CBS Sports Network, with Saturday's on NCHC.tv. Both games can be heard live on the Bronco Radio Network.
 
LAST WEEK
The Broncos welcomed No. 3 Denver to Lawson Ice Arena, splitting with the Pioneers with a 4-1 loss on Friday and a 6-4 win on Saturday.
 
Cole Gallant gave the Broncos the lead early in Friday's game but Denver went on to score four unanswered goals, including three on the power play,
 
On Saturday WMU rebounded, jumping out to a 5-1 lead after goals by Ethen Frank, Josh Passolt, Ty Glover, Michael Joyaux and Jamie Rome. The Pioneers responded with three straight goals to get within one, 5-4, at 1:40 in the third period. Brandon Bussi made 12 of this career-high 42 saves in the third period and Frank added an empty-net goal with 1:05 to play to seal the victory.

WATCH PARTY
Western Michigan will be hosting a Watch Party and Open Skate at Lawson Ice Arena for Saturday's game against North Dakota. Doors at Lawson will open at 6:30 p.m. and admission is free. Skates are available to rent for $5 and concessions will be open.
 
IT'S BEEN A WHILE
In WMU's split with No. 3 Denver, senior forward Drew Worrad had five assists, including four in Saturday's 6-4 victory. The weekend total pushed him over 30 assists for the season to a team-best 32. Worrad becomes the first Bronco to reach the 30-assist mark since Mike Bishai and David Gove did so during the 2000-01 season.
 
Worrad leads the team with 38 points and is on the verge of another milestone, being the first Bronco to reach 40 points in a since Patrick Galivan did in the 2008-09 campaign when he finished with 47 on 19 goals and 28 assists.
 
CLOSING IT OUT
Western Michigan improved to 14-0 on the season when heading into the third period with a lead. Most recently the Broncos had a 5-3 lead in the third period of Saturday's victory over the Pioneers. WMU ramps up both its offense and its defense in the final 20 minutes, outscoring its opponents 42-20.
 
ONE AND DONE
The Broncos need just one point in their final four games of the season to secure home ice advantage for the NCHC Quarterfinals.

WITHIN REACH
The 2021-22 Western Michigan hockey team is currently tied for the program record for road wins with 12, tying the 1985-86 team. This weekend is WMU's last chance to break the record with its final true road games of the season. The Broncos are 12-4-1 on the road this season.
 
RARIFIED AIR
Western Michigan fifth-year senior Ethen Frank currently leads the nation with 23 goals scored on the season. Frank is one of just eight Broncos to reach the 20-goal mark since 2000. Frank joins Mike Bishai, Jeff Campbell, David Gove, Matheson Iacopelli, Mark Letestu, Steve Rymsha and Brent Walton in the category. Campbell and Walton were the lone Broncos to do it twice.
 
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS | 19-11-1, 14-5-1 NCHC, 1st
- THE SERIES: Western Michigan swept North Dakota back in January to cut the all-time series lead to 25-9-0. It was the first home sweep of UND in program history. Josh Passolt leads all Broncos with nine career points on five goals and four assists in 12 games against the Fighting Hawks. After the sweep earlier this season, junior goalie Brandon Bussi has a 2-3-0 record with a 1.71 goals against average and a .940 save percentage against UND.
 
- SCOUTING THE FIGHTING HAWKS, AGAIN: Since being swept by Western Michigan, North Dakota has gone 6-1-1, with its only loss coming in overtime to Omaha. During the stretch, the Fighting Hawks have given up on average just 1.87 goals per game. UND currently has a one-point lead over Denver at the top of the NCHC standings and an eight-point lead over the Broncos.
 
Sophomore forward Riese Gaber leads the team in every scoring category with 35 points on 14 goals and 21 assists. Defenseman Jake Sanderson is second on the team with 24 points on seven goals and 17 assists in just 21 games. Sanderson has missed time due to the Olympics and was out in last weekend's series at Minnesota-Duluth due to injury. Ashton Calder is second on the team in goals scored with 10, also contributing eight assists on the season. UND has averaged 3.19 goals per game so far this season, ranking 18th in the nation.
 
Defensively the Fighting Hawks rank 25th in the nation, allowing 2.65 goals per game this season. Bemidji State transfer Zach Driscoll has seen the majority of the action in net with a 17-9-1 record in 26 starts, a 2.44 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. Jackob Hellsten has made five starts with a 2-2-0 record, a .889 save percentage and a 2.76 goals against average. Both earned losses in net against WMU back in January.
 
UND's power play ranks 11th in the nation at 24.5 percent (27-for-110). Gaber and Ethan Frisch are tied for the team lead in power play tallies with six each. North Dakota's penalty kill ranks 40th at 77.7 percent (94-for-121).
 
ON THE HORIZON
Western Michigan returns home to close out the 2021-22 regular season hosting Miami on Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are available at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets.