Western Michigan Broncos (3-1) Ranked # 13

The Michigan Wolverines were fresh off a weekend in Minnesota in which they took down #5 Minnesota Duluth and #1 Minnesota State. They themselves rose to #1 in the rankings and things were looking bright in Ann Arbor. Western Michigan didn’t get that memo. They rode into Ann Arbor on Friday night and came out with a 5-2 victory in dominating fashion.

Aidan Fulp got the scoring going for the Broncos in the final seconds of the first period to give them a 1-0 lead going into the first intermission. Rhett Kingston and Ethen Frank got in on the goal scoring action and gave the Broncos a 3-0 lead half way through the second period. Michigan responded to pull the deficit back to two goals, but that is as close it would get for the remainder. Western Michigan went on to score five goals on the previously undefeated Wolverines and handed them their first loss of the season.

Saturday night’s game saw both teams head to Kalamazoo for a rematch, this time on Western Michigan’s ice. This time Michigan jumped out to the early lead with a goal late in the first period and another early in the second period. The Broncos responded with two goals of their own to tie it up at 2-2 heading into the second intermission. Western Michigan lit the lamp again in the third period, but after a review the goal was taken off the board due to a high stick. Neither team could break the tie and the game headed into overtime. Michigan would eventually put one in the net and claim the 3-2 victory over the Broncos, giving Western Michigan their first loss of the season.

After this past weekend’s efforts the Broncos moved up to #13 from #17 in the USCHO polls.

Next up for Western Michigan is a trip to Hamilton, New York for a pair of games against Colgate University (5-2) on October 29th and 30th.

Bowling Green Falcons (2-0-2)

We had some full on MAC hockey action this weekend as Bowling Green and Miami faced off for a home-and-home series. First up was a meeting Friday night with Miami playing host.

The RedHawks struck first on a goal from Joe Cassetti to take the lead. They added a second goal at the 6:29 mark to go up 2-0. Just 20 seconds later the Falcons responded and scored a goal of their own to bring the score to 2-1. At 15:54 in the second period Austen Swankler netted the equalizer to tie things up. Neither team was able to break the tie in the third period. They headed to overtime, but again both teams held each other scoreless. The game ended in a 2-2 tie and both teams boarded the bus for a trip to Bowling Green to prepare for Saturday night’s game.

While Friday night’s game was a low scoring slugfest, Saturday night’s game was quite the opposite. Miami’s Chase Gresock lit the lamp just 35 seconds into the game to give the RedHawks the 1-0 lead. Bowling Green tied things up with a powerplay goal, but Gresock scored yet again as Miami regained the lead and took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Miami struck first yet again in the second period and stretched their lead to 3-1. Things were looking good for the RedHawks, but things changed in a hurry.

Bowling Green responded by scoring two goals just 17 seconds apart to tie things up. Miami did manage to regain the lead briefly, but the Falcons poured it on with three goals in the third period to take the 6-4 win.

The Falcons are currently unranked, but are listed in the others receiving votes category of the USCHO polls.

Next up for Bowling Green is a two game series at Bemidji State (3-3, ranked #17) in Minnesota on October 29th and 30th.

Miami RedHawks (1-4-1)

As mentioned above, the RedHawks faced off against Bowling Green for a weekend series. Following a tie on Friday night, the RedHawks lost to the Falcons on Saturday night and dropped to 1-4-1 on the season.

Miami is off next weekend, but next up for them is a road trip to Omaha (5-1, ranked #10) for a pair of games on November 5th and 6th.