Sixth-ranked Western Michigan scored twice in each period and beat Notre Dame 6-1 on Friday night before a standing-room-only crowd at Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo. The Broncos outshot the Fighting Irish 51-20, went 3-for-5 on the power play, and improved to 3-0-0 in the opening game of a non-conference home-and-home series. Notre Dame fell to 2-1-0.
How the goals came
Western Michigan needed 18 seconds to get on the board. Zaccharya Wisdom stripped a Notre Dame player in the neutral zone, and Cole Spicer finished for a 1-0 lead. Tommy Lafrenière made it 2-0 at 5:39 of the first, with Zach Nehring and Edison Engle assisting.
Adam Benák scored his first collegiate goal on the power play at 2:07 of the second, set up by Spicer and Iiro Hakkarainen. Nehring added a wraparound at 12:31, assisted by Joona Väisänen and Wisdom, for a 4-0 lead after two periods.
Ty Henricks scored his first goal of the season on the power play at 4:44 of the third. Danny Nelson broke up the shutout bid 73 seconds later, from Jaedon Kerr and Evan Werner. Bobby Cowan closed the scoring with 1:33 left, redirecting a Väisänen shot on another power play.
Standouts and goaltending
Väisänen, last week’s NCHC honoree, had a game-high three assists. Spicer had a goal and an assist, and Wisdom and Nehring each had two points. Quentin Miller made 19 saves for the Broncos. Notre Dame’s Nicholas Kempf faced a heavy workload, stopping 45 of 51 shots, and Western Michigan put 20 shots on goal in both the second and third periods.
Notre Dame went 0-for-2 on the power play. The third period turned chippy, with five Irish penalties, including two boarding calls across the game.
What’s next
The series moves to South Bend, Indiana, on Saturday at 6 p.m. on Peacock and the Bronco Media Network.
Leave a Reply