KALAMAZOO, Mich. - William Whitelaw scored four goals, and Joona Väisänen added a hat trick as the No. 6/5 Western Michigan beat LIU 10-2 Thursday night at Lawson Arena.
The two programs met for the first time, and it quickly turned into a night of firsts. Whitelaw and Väisänen became the first teammates in NCHC history to record hat tricks in the same game. It was each player's first collegiate hat trick. Whitelaw scored the most goals by a Bronco in a game since Ethen Frank scored four against St. Cloud State on Nov. 19, 2021. His four goals also tied the NCHC single-game record. Väisänen became the sixth defenseman in NCHC history to record a hat trick and the third Bronco, joining Ronnie Attard and Michael Joyaux.
Whitelaw finished with five points, while Väisänen had four. Whitelaw is now tied for second in the nation with seven goals this season and ranks third with 12 points. Väisänen ranks second nationally among defensemen in both goals (5) and points (11). Tommy Lafrenière recorded three assists for the Broncos (5-1-0),
Edison Engle scored his first career goal, and
Quentin Miller made 20 saves in net.
Western Michigan wasted little time getting going. Whitelaw opened the scoring at 4:33 of the first period, finishing a play set up by
Iiro Hakkarainen and
Cole Spicer. The goal extended his point streak to six games.
Väisänen made it 2-0 at 10:54, beating Lukas Renaud off assists from
Michael Neumeier and
Ty Henricks. Whitelaw then scored his second of the period on the power play with five seconds left, taking a feed from Väisänen and Lafrenière to send the Broncos into the intermission up 3-0.
Luc Bydal put LIU on the board 1:26 into the second period, but Engle answered at 3:44 with his first career goal.
Zach Nehring and Lafrenière assisted.
The Broncos broke the game open from there. Väisänen scored at 12:26 on an Adam Benák-to-Whitelaw assist, and Whitelaw completed his hat trick 24 seconds later on a pass from
Bobby Cowan at 12:50.
Ty Henricks pushed the lead to 7-1 at 17:55, finishing a passing play from Lafrenière and
Cole Crusberg-Roseen. Väisänen completed his hat trick at 19:07, scoring off assists from
Theo Wallberg and
Zaccharya Wisdom to make it 8-1 after two periods.
Garrett Szydlowski scored at 10:00 of the third, assisted by Wallberg and Grant MacKenzie. Whitelaw added his fourth of the night at 15:28 off assists from Benák and Cowan, and Brennan Nelson closed out the scoring for LIU at 18:05.
FINAL SEASON AT LAWSON
The 2026-27 campaign marks the Final Season at historic Lawson Arena for Western Michigan hockey. Named after the founding father of the program, Harry W. Lawson, the arena has been home to Bronco hockey since the 1974-75 season. All throughout the 2026-27 season, WMU hockey will be celebrating its five-plus decades at Lawson Arena with special events, promotions and 'Fan Friday' giveaways.
