MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Western Michigan hockey team closed out 2025 by claiming the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off Championship. The Brown and Gold downed Wisconsin, 4-1, to secure the title.
Zaccharya Wisdom,
Zach Nehring,
William Whitelaw and
Grant Slukynsky provided the offense, while
Hampton Slukynsky made 22 saves in net to earn the win. Whitelaw was named the Most Outstanding Forward,
Theo Wallberg earned Most Outstanding Defenseman recognition and Slukynsky was the tournament's Most Outstanding Goaltender.
FIRST PERIOD
Neither team could get much offense going in the early stages, but WMU nearly broke through with a
Tyler MacKenzie shot a little over eight minutes into the frame. After a Whitelaw shot was saved, Wisconsin was able to counter and take a 1-0 lead.
The Broncos would be sent off for holding later in the period, but the penalty killers did well to get back to even-strength hockey. Wisconsin registered just one shot on net during the man advantage.
Down the stretch, both teams would be given roughing minors. That would extend into the second frame of action with Wisconsin leading 1-0.
SECOND PERIOD
After getting back to even strength, Western Michigan was able to even the score. Wisdom got aggressive in front of the net and pushed the puck in for his second goal of the tournament.
The Brown and Gold stayed on the attack, as
Liam Valente and
Iiro Hakkarainen had shots just saved by UW's goaltender. However, a Badger turnover led to an odd-man rush for the Broncos, and they capitalized. Slukynsky kept the puck in at the blue line and fed a pass to Nehring who pushed the score to 2-1 in favor of the Broncos.
After some back-and-forth action, Western Michigan was sent off for slashing. Wisconsin carried 1:25 of power play time into the third period of play.
THIRD PERIOD
WMU killed the rest of the penalty without allowing a shot and got back to full strength. From there, the Broncos started to take control. Whitelaw and Nehring had shots just saved out front.
However, with time winding down, the Badgers pulled their goalie looking to find the equalizer. It took just a few seconds for the Broncos to score, as Slukynsky pushed the puck to Whitelaw who hit twine for a 3-1 lead.
Not even 20 seconds later, Slukysnky would get a goal of his own off of a nice feed from Nehring. That made the score 4-1 and put the game out of reach for UW. Slukynsky made one more save in net down the stretch to close out the win.
UP NEXT
The Broncos will gear up for a home-and-home series against Notre Dame. The series opener is set for Friday in South Bend, Ind. Puck drop is slated for 7 PM.
