CCHA and Big Ten Results including Lake Superior State over Ferris State- Story Below WMU Victory
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Thanks to some late game heroics from captain Tim Washe, Western Michigan was able to hand No. 8 Colorado College its first loss of the season. The Broncos beat the Tigers 3-2 in overtime.
Washe scored 3:22 into overtime to secure the win for the Brown and Gold. Tristan Lemyre and Grant Slukynsky tallied third-period goals to send the game to overtime. Cameron Rowe improved to 4-0-0 in net.
FIRST PERIOD
The Broncos opened the game with the six straight shots, including three from Alex Bump. However, CC would strike first, as a fortuitous bounce in front led to a 1-0 lead. Just over a minute later, the Tigers made it a 2-0 game.
From there, Western Michigan dominated possession. Iiro Hakkarainen ripped a shot at Colorado College goaltender Kaidan Mbereko, which he kept out of the net. Washe and Samuel Sjolund had great looks on net saved by Mbereko in the back half of the period.
Down the stretch, Bump, Cole Crusberg-Roseen and Zack Sharp had shots saved, and CC took a 2-0 lead into the intermission.
SECOND PERIOD
WMU peppered shots at Mbereko in the opening few minutes of the middle frame. Nothing would find the back of the net, however. Just over seven minutes in to the second period, WMU got the first power play of the game.
Bump had the lone look on net during the man advantage and CC blocked two other shots. After some back-and-forth action, Western Michigan was sent to the box for holding. CC wouldn’t get a shot on the man advantage, and the Broncos returned to full strength.
CC was called for a too many men on the ice penalty with under a second to play in the middle period. WMU carried that power play time into the third period trailing by two goals.
THIRD PERIOD
Sjolund had a great look on net during the power play, but Mbereko and the Tigers were able to work themselves back to full strength. Still, the Broncos kept firing shots on net, eventually breaking through just under 10 minutes into the third frame.
Bump flicked a pass to Lemyre who wristed a shot by Mbereko to bring WMU back within one. That tally marked Lemyre’s third straight game with a goal. Needing one more goal to tie, Western Michigan continued to apply pressure.
Sharp and Liam Valente had great looks on net saved by Mbereko as the game moved toward the final five minutes. The Broncos worked the puck around the zone, and Valente threw it on net. It eventually fell to Slukynsky who tapped it home to tie the game with less than four minutes to play in regulation.
WMU got a few more chances down the stretch, but the game would end up going to overtime.
OVERTIME
Despite losing the opening faceoff, WMU was able to retain possession pretty quickly. Owen Michaels had a breakaway chance saved by Mbereko not even a minute into the overtime session.
After Rowe saved a CC shot, Western Michigan broke out and got the puck back to Michaels. He led the odd man rush, firing a pass to Washe who tipped the puck into the back of the net for a 3-2 win.
Laker Hockey Stays Unbeaten in League Play With 4-2 Win Over Ferris State
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The Lake Superior State (LSSU) hockey team (4-5-0, 3-0-0 CCHA) came away with a 4-2 victory over the Ferris State Bulldogs (2-9-2) to remain undefeated in conference play on Friday.
Reagan Milburn (Kamloops, B.C.) set the tone early, scoring just under a minute into the game with some help from Jordan Venegoni (Livonia, Mich.) and Brian Huggins (Grand Rapids, Mich.). Johnny Druskinis (Plymouth, Mich.) would then double up the score at the 3:49 mark with assists from Connor Milburn (Kamloops, B.C.) and Dawson Tritt to take advantage of the man advantage after a hooking penalty by Logan Heroux. However, the Bulldogs were able to take some momentum into the intermission with Max Itagaki scoring on a breakaway with 1.4 seconds left on the clock.
At the 5:34 mark of the second period, Tyler Schleppe tied up the game at 2-2, but the Lakers would dig in defensively as both teams battled throughout the period. Then, at the 17:31 mark, Carter Batchelder (Savage, Minn.) wrapped around the net to tuck the puck just past the goal line and put the Lakers back in front after R. Milburn and Adam Barone (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) helped to quickly push the puck up the ice.
Tritt fired the puck into the back of the net 7:13 into the third period to put his team back up by two, and the Laker defense took care of the rest, closing out the 4-2 victory.
Rorke Applebee (Chateauguay, Que.) picked up his fourth win between the pipes after recording 43 saves on the night.
The Lakers will now travel to Traverse City, Mich. for game two of the weekend series for the inaugural Superior Ice Showdown with puck drop scheduled for 6:07 p.m
Laker Hockey Stays Unbeaten in League Play With 4-2 Win Over Ferris State