KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan hockey team fell to No. 9 Denver, 6-3, on Saturday night at Lawson Arena. 

Grady Gallatin, Ty Henricks and Liam Valente lit the lamp for the Broncos, while Hampton Slukynsky made 28 saves in net. Gallatin's tally was the first of his career. Ryan Kusler also posted his first career point in the setback. 

FIRST PERIOD
Denver jumped out in front early, getting a goal less than two minutes in. The Brown and Gold started to find some chances after that, as Garrett Szydlowski and Zaccharya Wisdom nearly got on the board. 

DU was sent off for hooking just under eight minutes into the frame. However, the Pioneers would strike down a man, going up 2-0 in the game. The Broncos went to a 4-on-3 power play later in the period, getting strong chances from Bobby Cowan and Henricks. 

The Pios would work back to full strength and eventually added to their lead with about a minute to play in the opening period. WMU trailed by three goals going to the second 20 minutes.

SECOND PERIOD
The Pioneers struck early again, getting a goal just over a minute into the frame to make the score 4-0. However, Western Michigan wouldn't go down without a fight, as Gallatin lit the lamp for his first career goal to make the score 4-1. 

In the middle portion of the period, WMU killed off another penalty. A little bit after that, Denver would add to its lead (5-1). Down the stretch of the middle 20 minutes, the Brown and Gold would earn another opportunity on the man advantage. 

With some nice passing, Samuel Sjolund fired a puck on net that hit the stick of Henricks and found twine. That made the score 5-2 going into the final period of play. 

THIRD PERIOD
Denver got another early one, scoring just over four minutes in to make it a 6-2 game. The Broncos kept pushing offensively, getting strong chances from Zack Sharp and Gallatin in the middle portion of the period. 

The Brown and Gold went on power play with about 5:30 remaining on the clock, and the Broncos took full advantage of the opportunity. Grant Slukynsky fired a pass across the ice to Valente, who rifled a shot into the back of the net to make it 6-3 in favor of the visitors. 

With time winding down, Western Michigan worked hard to push back into the game. However, Denver was able to close out a 6-3 win. 

UP NEXT
The Broncos will host Miami next weekend at Lawson Arena. The series opener is set for Friday at 7 PM.