Western Michigan Broncos Lock Up Home Playoff Weekend
The Western Michigan Bronco hockey team returns to Kalamazoo for their final regular season games Friday and Saturday, when they host third-ranked Minnesota-Duluth.
The nationally ranked Broncos (#8 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls) were on the road last weekend against the Colorado College Tigers with a chance to earn home-ice advantage during the opening round of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference playoffs. The Brown and Gold would come away with a 3-3 tie Friday night (allowing a goal with one second left in the 3-on-3 overtime, earning one point in the standings).
The Broncos would recover on Saturday night, thumping the Tigers 5-1 with goals from five different players.
Freshman winger Hugh McGing scored twice on the weekend, putting his total at five on the season.
With another solid weekend, the Broncos stretched their unbeaten streak to four games following their home sweep of North Dakota two weeks ago. They remain in third place in the NCHC with two games remaining among all the conference squads. Their four-point weekend also locked the Broncos into home-ice advantage for the first round of the NCHC playoffs, locking them in as the third seed. The top four teams in the standings host the opening round best-of-three series.
The regular season concludes at Lawson Ice Arena this Friday and Saturday, when the Bulldogs of Minnesota-Duluth (#3 in USCHO.com, tied for #2 in USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine) make their way to Kalamazoo. The two squad split a weekend series in November in Duluth. While the Broncos are 8-6-2 on the road this season (including a Great Lakes Invitation title in Detroit in December), Lawson's home ice has been friendly to the squad. They are 11-2-3 on the year in front of their home crowd.
Tickets are still available for both games against Minnesota-Duluth, including their National Showdown Special. Face-off both nights are at 7pm.
Check out this week's press conference before the weekend action from Western Michigan Bronco Athletics!