ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Western Michigan dropped the opening game of its series against St. Cloud State tonight at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The Huskies won by a final score of 5-2. 

Alex Bump netted both goals for the Broncos, while also having a goal disallowed in the first period. Luke Grainger, Sam Colangelo, Carter Berger and Samuel Sjolund all notched assists in the game. 

FIRST PERIOD
The Broncos came out aggressive, including a Bump goal in the opening five minutes of the game. However, the referees would review the goal and determine a hand pass was made, keeping the score tied at 0-0. 

A couple minutes after the disallowed goal, Western Michigan got the game's first power play. St. Cloud State was sent to the box for hooking. Colangelo would get the lone look on the man advantage for WMU, and the Huskies eventually got back to full strength. 

A few minutes after the Broncos' power play, SCSU jumped ahead, 1-0, on a tipped puck in front of the net. Down the stretch, WMU got a few more looks on net, but SCSU would earn a power play with under a minute to play in the opening frame. The Huskies carried just over a minute of power-play time into the second 20 minutes. 

SECOND PERIOD
Western Michigan did well to kill the remaining power play time, limiting the Huskies to two shots. Following the power play, the Brown and Gold would get looks from Bump and Berger. 

As the game moved to the middle portion of the period, SCSU tallied another goal to increase its lead to 2-0. Down the stretch, Western Michigan would generate a few offensive looks and eventually earned a power play with Dylan Wendt getting tripped up in the offensive zone. 

The period ended after a Grainger shot was blocked. The Broncos carried 1:29 of power play time into the final 20 minutes. 

THIRD PERIOD
Bump would get one more look for the Broncos on the man advantage, but SCSU would eventually get back to full strength. Just under seven minutes into the final frame, WMU would get another look on the power play. 

However, SCSU would tally its third goal of the night and go on to kill off the rest of the penalty. Just as the power play, expired, though, Bump lit the lamp for his 12th goal of the season to get WMU right back in the game. 

A few minutes later, Bump used a nice pass from Sjolund to bring WMU back within one with more than nine minutes to play in the game. Bump buried a one-timer by SCSU netminder Isak Posch for his second goal of the night. 

Down the stretch, WMU would make things interesting, peppering shots on Posch. However, the Broncos would be assessed a major penalty with just over five minutes left in the game. SCSU tallied a pair of goals to secure a 5-2 victory. 

UP NEXT
Western Michigan and St. Cloud State continue the NCHC Quarterfinals best-of-three series tomorrow night at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET.