2013-14 WMU GAME NOTES • WEEK 23 • NCHC SEMFINALS • DENVER 2013-14 SCHEDULE/RESULTS WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY Oct. 5 WESTERN ONTARIO (exh) W, 5-2 Oct. 11 @ #8 Notre Dame L, 0-4 BRONCO HOCKEY Oct. 12 #8 NOTRE DAME L, 0-3 5 NCAA TOURNAMENTS 2 CCHA CHAMPIONSHIPS Oct. 18 vs Alaska Anchorage& W, 6-2 Oct. 19 @ Alaska& T, 3-3 11 ALL-AMERICANS 3 HOBEY BAKER FINALISTS Nov. 1 COLORADO COLLEGE* W, 3-2 OT Nov. 2 COLORADO COLLEGE* W, 5-1 Nov. 9 NORTHERN MICHIGAN L, 4-5 NATIONAL COLLEGIATE HOCKEY CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS Nov. 10 NORTHERN MICHIGAN T, 2-2 #2 Western Michigan (19-14-5) vs. #3 Denver (18-15-6) Nov. 15 @ Denver* L, 3-5 Friday, March 21, 2014 • 5:07 p.m. • Target Center • Minneapolis, Minn. Nov. 16 @ Denver* L, 0-1 Nov. 22 @ Michigan State W, 2-0 Nov. 23 MICHIGAN STATE W, 4-1 Nov. 29 vs. Northeastern@ T, 1-1 THIS WEEK Nov. 30 vs. Alabama-Huntsville@ W, 1-0 • Western Michigan takes on Denver in the National Collegiate Broncos in the Postseason Dec. 6 NORTH DAKOTA* L, 2-3 Hockey Conference Semifinals on Friday at 5 p.m. at the Target Skaters GP G-A-P +/- Dec. 7 NORTH DAKOTA* L, 2-3 Chase Balisy 14 2-6-8 -5 Center in Minneapolis, Minn. Shane Berschbach 14 2-5-7 -5 Dec. 13 @ Minnesota-Duluth* W, 5-3 Dennis Brown 14 0-5-5 +0 Dec. 14 @ Minnesota-Duluth* L, 3-4 Will Kessel 8 3-2-5 -1 Dec. 27 vs. #3 Michigan% W, 3-2 OT HOW DID THEY GET HERE Colton Hargrove 3 3-0-3 +3 Dec. 28 vs Michigan Tech% W, 1-0 OT • DENVER UNIVERSITY: Denver earned the sixth seed in the Nolan LaPorte 3 0-3-3 -2 Jan. 10 #13 MIAMI* W, 5-4 NCHC tournament and upset Nebraska-Omaha last week in Jordan Oesterle 8 0-2-2 +1 Jan. 11 #13 MIAMI* W, 3-2 Josh Pitt 2 1-0-1 +1 Jan. 17 @ St. Cloud State* T, 5-5, SOW (1-0) three games. UNO took the first game 4-3 but from then on Justin Kovacs 8 0-1-1 +1 Kenney Morrison 3 0-1-1 -2 Jan. 18 @ St. Cloud State* W, 2-1 the Pioneers clamped down on the Mavericks, winning 5-1 and Mike Cichy 3 0-1-1 +2 Jan. 31 MINNESOTA-DULUTH* L, 2-5 then shutout out Nebraska-Omaha 2-0 to clinch the series. Sheldon Dries 1 0-1-1 +1 Feb. 1 MINNESOTA-DULUTH* L, 1-3 Sam Mellor 1 1-0-1 +0 Feb. 7 @ Miami* W, 5-2 Feb. 8 @ Miami* W, 3-2 • WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Broncos earned the fifth seed for Goalies GAA SV% Record Feb. 14 @ Colorado College* T, 4-4, SOW (1-0) the NCHC Tournament and swept the No. 4 seed Minnesota- Lukas Hafner 2.13 .921 1-0-0 Feb. 15 @ Colorado College* L, 0-3 Duluth on the road. WMU opened up the series with a 3-2 win Frank Slubowski 2.78 .901 4-3-0 Feb. 21 NEBRASKA-OMAHA* L, 1-5 and then scored two goals in the third period to come from Feb. 22 NEBRASKA-OMAHA* W, 5-3 Feb. 28 #19 DENVER* L, 2-4 behind and defeat the Bulldogs, 4-3, to complete the sweep. Broncos vs. Minnesota-Duluth March 1 #19 DENVER* W, 3-1 Skaters GP G-A-P +/- March 7 @ #9 North Dakota* L, 0-2 Chase Balisy 7 3-2-5 -1 AT A GLANCE: THE DENVER UNIVERSITY PIONEERS Justin Kovacs 7 2-3-5 -1 March 8 @ #9 North Dakota* W, 2-1 • THE SERIES: DU leads the all-time series 6-3-0 and held Colton Hargrove 5 4-1-5 +2 March 14 @ #20 Minnesota-Duluth! W, 3-2 a 3-1-0 edge this season against the Broncos. Denver swept Jordan Oesterle 7 0-4-4 +2 March 15 @ #20 Minnesota-Duluth! W, 4-3 Josh Pitt 4 2-1-3 +2 March 21 vs. Denver^ 5:07 p.m. WMU and home and then split in Kalamazoo. This is the Shane Berschbach 7 0-2-2 -2 March 22 vs North Dakota/Miami TBA second matchup all-time at a neutral site between the two Dennis Brown 7 0-2-2 +4 - Home games in caps/bold Sheldon Dries 5 1-1-1 -1 * denotes conference game schools. The first came in 2011 in the first round of the NCAA David Killip 2 1-0-1 +2 & Alaska Goal Rush, Fairbanks, Alaska Kenney Morrison 5 1-0-1 +0 @ Shillelagh Tournament, South Bend, Ind. Tournament with the Pioneers winning 3-2 in double-overtime. % Great Lakes Invitational, Comerica Park, Detroit, Mich. Sam Mellor 3 1-0-1 +0 ! NCHC Quarterfinals Mike Cichy 5 0-1-1 +0 ^ NCHC Semifinals at Target Center (Minneapolis, Minn.) • THE BEST AROUND: DU has been consistently one of the Chris Dienes 5 0-1-1 -3 best defensive teams in the nation and currently ranks seventh Aaron Hadley 5 0-1-1 +0 in scoring defense at 2.21 goals per game. The stingy defense Goalies GAA SV% Record BROADCAST is anchored by NCHC First Team All-Conference selection Sam Lukas Hafner 3.00 .897 2-2-0 INFORMATION Brittain. Brittain has started in 36 of Denver’s 39 games this Frank Slubowski 3.56 .884 0-2-0 season in net with a 2.06 goals against average, a .934 save SATURDAY percentage, and five shutouts. His save percentage ranks Lines From Previous Game • VIDEO: NCHCHockey.com Stream second in the nation, goals against average ranks 10th, and he • 3-2 W @ Minnesota-Duluth (3/7) • RADIO: 590 AM WKZO (Kory Lee) is also tied for fourth in shutouts. LW C RW • OFFENSE POWERED BY DEFENSEMEN: The Pioneers have 24 13 17 2 28 23 one of the top group of scoring defensemen in the nation. The 14 29 16 group has combined for 34 goals, 18 on the power play, and 8 25 21 61 assists on the season. The 95 points produced by their LD RD G defenseman have accounted for 52.6 percent of the team’s 15 11 1 173 points. Joey LaLeggia is second on the team in goals 9 20 35 scored with 11 and leads all defensemen in goal scoring. 3 7 55 • Starters in bold www.wmubroncos.com www.facebook.com/wmuhockey www.twitter.com/WMUHockey www.youtube.com/wmuathletics 1 2013-14 WMU GAME NOTES • WEEK 23 • NCHC SEMFINALS • DENVER David Makowski’s 14 assists lead all defensemen and ranks fifth on the team. Makowski’s 24 points are third overall on the team and is tops with six power THE LAST TIME ... play goals. THE LAST TIME ... Defeated a ranked opponent at home: SPECIAL TEAMS AT SPECIAL TIMES WMU: No. 13 Miami, 3-2, Jan. 11, 2014 • Special teams have risen to the occasion for Western Michigan during the postseason under head coach Andy Murray. WMU went 3-for-7 on the power Defeated a ranked opponent on the road: WMU: No. 9 North Dakota, 2-1, March 8, 2014 play and a perfect 7-for-7 on the penalty kill in last weekend’s sweep of Minnesota-Duluth. In the three seasons under Murray the Bronco power play Series sweep: is 10-for-38 (26.3 percent) and the penalty kill is 28-for-31 (90.3 percent). WMU: No. 13 Miami (5-4, 3-2), Jan. 10-11, 2014 Opponent: Minnesota-Duluth (2-5, 1-3), Jan. 31-Feb.1, 2014 FOUR POINTS AND THREE YEARS AGO Shutout: • Chase Balisy tallied his first collegiate four-point game in Saturday’s 4-3 win WMU: vs. Michigan Tech (1-0), Dec. 29, 2013 (Hafner in net) over Minnesota-Duluth. It is the first four-point game for a Bronco since Dane Opponent: @ North Dakota (0-2), March 7, 2014 (Gothberg in net) Walters reached the mark on Dec. 10, 2011 with a hat trick and an assist Four-point game: against Bowling Green. It was the most points recorded by a single player in a WMU: Dane Walters (3-1-4), vs. Bowling Green, Dec. 10, 2011 playoff game for WMU since Mike Bishai recorded five on one goal and four as- Opponent: Alex Szczechura (3-1-4) at Ohio State, Feb. 16, 2013 sists and Jeff Campbell recorded four points on two goals and two assists in a Tanner Fritz (1-3-4) at Ohio State, Feb. 16, 2013 9-7 win over Northern Michigan in the CCHA Quarterfinals on March 10, 2001. Five-point game: WMU: Jeff Campbell (2-3-5) vs. Nebraska-Omaha, Nov. 1, 2002 NEUTRAL SITE ADVANTAGE Opponent: Derek Nesbitt (3-2-5), Ferris State, March 5, 2005 • The Broncos finished with a 7-8-1 record at home and are 8-6-3 on the road Jeff Legue (2-3-5), Ferris State, March 5, 2005 this season but one place they been excellent is at neutral sites. This season Six-point game: WMU is 4-0-1 at neutral locations. When neither home or away Western Michi- WMU: David Gove (2-4-6), vs. Lake Superior State, Oct. 28, 2000 gan has outscored opponents 12-5 with two shutouts. Shane Berschbach racked up seven points on four goals and three assists in the five games. Hat trick: WMU: Chase Balisy (3-0-3), vs. Denver, March 1, 2014 Opponent: Alex Szczechura (3-1-4), @ Ohio State, Feb.