No. 6 Western Michigan scored six straight goals after falling behind early and beat LIU 7-4 on Friday night at Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo, finishing a two-game sweep of the Sharks. Zaccharya Wisdom scored twice, Adam Benák had a goal and two assists, and the Broncos outshot LIU 42-18 before a crowd of 3,143.
How it happened
LIU struck twice in 70 seconds late in the first period, with Jaden Dyke scoring at 14:03 and August Classon at 15:13. Sam Huck cut the lead in half at 17:12, from Tyler MacKenzie and Garrett Szydlowski. In the second, Colby Woogk tied it at 2:38, set up by Benák and William Whitelaw, and Cole Crusberg-Roseen put Western ahead at 17:05, assisted by Zack Sharp and Cole Spicer.
The Broncos then scored three times in 2:31 early in the third. Benák made it 4-2 at 1:26, from Whitelaw and Theo Wallberg; Wisdom scored at 3:24, from Spicer and Iiro Hakkarainen; and Bobby Cowan added a goal at 3:57, set up by Wallberg and Benák. LIU answered with Samuel Rousseau at 7:21 and a 5-on-3 power-play goal by Isaac Lambert at 12:13, before Wisdom closed the scoring at 4-on-4 at 18:17, assisted by Joona Väisänen and Hakkarainen.
In goal and on special teams
Quentin Miller made 14 saves on 18 shots for Western Michigan. Lukas Renaud stopped 30 of 36 for LIU before Dane Callaway replaced him for the final 16:03 and made five saves. The Broncos went 0-for-4 on the power play, and LIU went 1-for-4.
What’s next
Western Michigan (6-1-0) finished its non-conference schedule and opens NCHC play next weekend at North Dakota, Nov. 6-7 in Grand Forks. LIU fell to 2-7-0. The Broncos won Thursday’s opener 10-2, when Whitelaw and Väisänen made NCHC history: Western Michigan Game Recap: vs. LIU (Oct. 29).
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