KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan senior forward Drew Worrad netted the game-winning goal 4:42 into overtime to send the Bronco Hockey team to the Frozen Faceoff after a 5-4 win over Omaha in game two of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Quarterfinals on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd at Lawson Ice Arena.
 
WMU had a faceoff in the UNO zone and Worrad won it over to Ethen Frank. Frank pushed it back toward the slot and Worrad won a scramble for the puck and fired it into the top-right corner of the net and past Isaiah Saville for his second goal of the night.
 
The Broncos will take on North Dakota on Friday in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinals with the time to be determined.
 
Junior defenseman Ronnie Attard had a game-high three points with a goal and two assists, while also finishing with a +3 plus/minus. Worrad had two goals with Max Sasson and Jason Polin also lighting the lamp, while Frank had two assists on the night.
 
Omaha jumped out to the early lead with a power play goal by Kevin Conley at 10:05 in the first period. Conley fired a shot from the right circle and had the rebound passed back to him and finished it off for his 10th of the season.
 
Sasson tied it up on a power play goal at 16:17 in the first period. Attard dished it off to Josh Passolt at the top of the right circle. Passolt passed it to Sasson, who was to the left of the crease and he tapped it in for his eighth goal of the season. Passolt picked up his 20th assist, while Attard tallied his 21st.
 
UNO retook the lead just 1:19 later on another power play goal, this time by Jonny Tychonick. Tychonick was open at the center point and fired a shot through traffic to put the Mavericks up 2-1.
 
Nolan Sullivan pushed Omaha's lead to 3-1 with a goal at 4:48 in the second period. Sullivan was parked in front of the net and redirected a shot by Conley into the net.
 
The Broncos flipped the game on its head with three goals in less than five minutes later in the second period. Polin got it started by punching in his own rebound on a shot from just in front of the net at 13:20. Sasson had the puck and centered it to Polin, who had his first shot stopped by Saville but put the second past him for his 16th goal of the season. Sasson picked up his 12th assist of the season and Ty Glover tallied his 13th and second of the season.
 
Just 34 seconds later Attard tied it up with his 13th of the season. Friday night's hero, Luke Grainger, won a faceoff back to Aidan Fulp and he dished it Attard. The junior defenseman ripped a shot from the deep slot and Saville got a piece of it but saw it trickle through his arm and into the back of the net. Fulp picked up his 11th assist of the season and Grainger tallied his seventh.
 
Worrad gave WMU its first lead of the night later at 18:07 in the second period on his eighth goal of the season. Frank dished the puck off to Attard and he fired a wrist shot from the deep slot. Saville made the save and the rebound popped out in front of the net. Worrad flipped the puck past Saville while falling backwards to make it 4-3.
 
A miscue in front of the net at 10:47 led to Jack Randl putting the puck into an open WMU net to tie it up at 4-4, eventually sending it to overtime.
 
The Broncos outshot the Mavericks 34-22 on the night, including holding them to just five shots on goal in the second period.
 
Tickets for WMU's block at the Frozen Faceoff will be announced in the coming days.