Bronco hockey team splits series

Patrick Littleton
Staff Reporter

The Western Michigan University hockey team split its weekend series with Lake Superior State University at Taffy Abel Arena to fall to third place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

On Friday, the Broncos scored two power play goals en route to a 3-1 win.

Netting goals for the Broncos were junior right wing Dane Walters, sophomore center Chase Balisy and freshman forward Will Kessel. Freshman goaltender Frank Slubowski made 25 saves to earn his 12th victory of the season.

Walters scored at the 6:42 mark of the first period with assists from freshman forward Justin Kovacs and Balisy. Balisy had a power play goal at the 10:53 mark of the first period with assists from Kovacs and Walters.

The Lakers got on the board with a power play goal at the :34 second mark of the second period from sophomore forward Kellan Lain, with assists from sophomore forward Colin Campbell and senior defenseman Kyle Haines.

Kessel extended the Broncos lead with another power play goal at the 4:31 mark of the third period with assists from junior defenseman Luke Witkowski and sophomore defenseman Danny DeKeyser.

The Lakers outshot the Broncos 26-25 and were 1-of-4 on the power play with four shots while the Broncos were 2-of-3 with three shots on the man advantage.

On Saturday, the Lakers scored two power play goals and a short handed goal to beat the Broncos 3-2.

Netting goals for the Broncos were senior center Greg Squires and Balisy. Slubowski (12-10-3) had 16 saves.

Squires gave the Broncos the first lead at the 14:02 mark of the first period with an assist from Witkowski.

Campbell evened the match at the 18:12 mark of the first period with a power play goal off assists from senior forward Fred Cassiani and sophomore forward Dan Radke.

The Lakers took the lead with a short handed goal at the 4:42 mark of the second period by freshman forward Stephen Perfetto, who had assists from Cassiani and Haines.

Radke extended the Laker lead with a power play goal at the 3:44 mark of the third period with assists from Campbell and Cassiani.

Balisy brought the Broncos within one at the 14:14 mark of the third period with an assist from Walters.

The Broncos outshot the Lakers by a whopping 41-19. The Lakers were better on the power play, going 2-of-3 with four shots while the Broncos were 0-of-1 with one shot attempt.

First place Ferris State University won both of its matches this weekend to earn at least a share of the CCHA title. The Broncos are out of first place contention, but have a shot at earning the two seed in the CCHA tournament as they trail the University of Michigan by two points.

The Broncos (16-13-5, 13-10-3-3) welcome FSU to Lawson Ice Arena this Friday and travel to Big Rapids on Saturday to conclude the regular season. Both matches begin at 7:05 p.m.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=29649

Posted by njstrehl on Feb 19 2012. Filed under Breaking, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Nora Strehl