Western Michigan Broncos (17-6, 9-5 NCHC) Ranked #5

Fresh off a home sweep of North Dakota, the Broncos headed up to Minnesota to take on #7 ranked Minnesota-Duluth for a weekend series. Unfortunately for Western Michigan, Friday night’s game did not get off to a great start, with Duluth scoring just 14 seconds into the game.

The Bulldogs added another goal to extend their lead to two goals. Western Michigan wasn’t going to go out without a fight and retaliated with a power play goal of their own just under two minutes later. Before the Bulldogs could blink, the Broncos fired in another goal to tie it up at 2-2 headed into the first intermission.

Duluth controlled the second period, adding two goals to once again take the lead. Western Michigan did not let that trend continue into the third period as Drew Worrad found the back of the net just 12 seconds into the final frame. Jason Polin struck a few minutes later on the power play and the game was knotted back up at 4-4. Duluth broke the tie, but the Broncos could not rebound this time, dropping the game 5-4.

The teams took the ice again on Saturday night for a rematch. Once again, Duluth would strike first, taking a one goal lead into the first intermission. Both teams would add a goal in the second period, making the score 2-1 in favor of the Bulldogs headed into the third. Once again, the Broncos struck quickly in the third period, with Ronnie Attard scoring the game typing goal less than a minute into the period.

From there, neither team could manufacture a goal. At the end of regulation, the score was still tied 2-2, so we headed to overtime. Josh Passolt glided into the middle and flipped a goal past the Bulldog goaltender to give the Broncos the win.

The Broncos are currently sitting in third in the NCHC standings with 26 points behind North Dakota (29 points) and Denver (32 points).

Next up for Western Michigan is a trip out to Colorado Springs for a weekend series with Colorado College (7-14-3, 4-9-1 NCHC) on February 4-5.

Bowling Green Falcons (13-10-3, 10-7-1-2 CCHA)

Bowling Green also faced off against the Bulldogs as they headed up to Big Rapids, Michigan to take on CCHA conference mate Ferris State. The Falcons struck first on Friday night with a first period goal from Ryan O’Hara. Adam Pitters netted a goal of his own early into the second period to put Bowling Green up 2-0 in front of a hostile Bulldog crowd. Ferris State fought back with three consecutive goals in the second period to take the lead 3-2 headed into the third period. Bowling Green took advantage of their power play opportunities in the third period, scoring twice to take the 4-3 win.

For information on Saturday night’s game, click here to check out a photo gallery and thorough recap of the action.

Next up for Bowling Green is a home series against #1 ranked Minnesota State (25-5) on February 4-5. The Mavericks also hold the top spot in the CCHA rankings. The Falcons play well in front of their home fans, boasting a 7-3 record at home, but taking a game from the Mavericks will be a tall order.

Miami RedHawks (4-20-2, 1-14-1 NCHC)

It has been a rough season for the RedHawks, but they’re still playing hard. Miami welcomed top-five ranked Denver team to town for a series over the past weekend. Friday night’s game saw the RedHawks nearly pull off a huge upset over the top team in the NCHC.

Denver struck first, but Miami scored two power play goals just seventeen seconds apart to take the 2-1 lead. Denver scored again to tie it at two, but Miami added another goal with just 15 seconds left in the first period to take the lead into the first intermission. After a scoreless second period, Miami scored just 23 seconds into the third period to go up 4-2. This lead would hold for much of the third until Denver scored at the 16:57 mark in the period to cut the lead to one goal.

Miami did all they they could to hold on, but Denver scored again with just under 12 seconds left in regulation to send it to overtime. Denver kept the momentum going, scoring their third consecutive goal to secure the overtime win.

The RedHawks found themselves in another tight game on Saturday night. Denver scored the first two goals, but Miami responded with two of their own to tie it up just prior to the second intermission. The RedHawks ran out of steam as Denver controlled the third period, scoring two goals to complete the sweep of Miami.

Miami gets a break this upcoming weekend prior to hosting #18 ranked Omaha (16-10-0) for a series on February 11-12.