Broncos tie in weekend series

Patrick Littleton
Staff Reporter

The Western Michigan University hockey team split its weekend series with the University of Alaska Fairbanks at Lawson Ice Arena and remains in second place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings.

On Friday, early goals from sophomore left wing Shane Berschbach and senior center Greg Squires helped the Broncos to a 2-1 win.

“Tonight was the type of hockey game I expected it to be,” WMU head coach Andy Murray said. “We played Alaska-Fairbanks three times, and every game has been a battle. They’re strong physically, they’ve got some really good players, some of the top scorers in our league, a good goaltender and a solid defense, so it made for a solid game.”

Berschbach scored on a power play at the 3:56 mark of the first period with assists from sophomore defenseman Dennis Brown and junior right wing Dane Walters. Squires scored at the 14:33 mark of the first period with assists from junior defensem Matt Tennyson and freshman defenseman Garrett Haar. It was Squires’ third straight game with a goal.

“It’s mind-blowing, but at the same time, not really,” Squires said. “I always shoot the puck and I work hard in practice and I went through a dry spell, but that’s going to happen. I’m happy I can contribute to the team. As long as we’re winning, that’s all that matters.”

The Nanooks got on the board at the 9:11 mark of the second period complements of sophomore left wing Colton Beck with an assist from junior right wing Andy Taranto.

Freshman goaltender Frank Slubowksi notched 20 saves in the win. The Broncos outshot the Nanooks 26-21. The Broncos were 1-of-5 on the power play with eight shots while the Nanooks were 0-of-2 with one shot.
On Saturday, the Nanooks scored four goals and shutout the Broncos until the final minute of the match to win 4-1.

Sophomore defenseman Michael Quinn scored a power play goal at the 6:27 mark of the first period with assists from Taranto and sophomore forward Cody Kunyk. Junior forward Jarret Granberg extended the lead at the 4:50 mark of the second period with assists from senior center Carlo Finucci and Quinn.

Junior forward Adam Henderson scored at the 5:53 mark of the third period with an assist from Quinn. Beck scored at the 19:07 mark with an assist from Kunyk.

Junior forward Mike Leone got the Broncos on the board with 25 seconds remaining off an assist from junior left wing Trevor Elias.
Slubowski (10-8-3) made 14 saves in the loss.

The Broncos actually outshot the Nannoks 38-14. The Broncos had at least ten shots in every period. The Broncso were 0-of-3 on the power play with three shots while the Nanooks were 1-of-5 with seven shots.

“I thought Alaska played a really heavy game tonight,” Murray said. “I thought our game was too light. It has nothing to do with size or whatever. Overall I just thought we were lighter than what we needed tonight.”

The Broncos stand at 14-11-5 overall and 11-8-3-3 in the CCHA and are alone in second place behind Ferris State University, whom the Broncos play in a home and home series at season’s end in three weeks.

This weekend, the Broncos welcome Ohio State University for two matches at Lawson Ice Arena at 7:05 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

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Posted by thehair on Feb 5 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