Broncos top Wolverines at Yost

By Michael Caples –

ANN ARBOR – For the first time in 20 games, somebody other than a Wolverine scored a game-winning goal inside Yost Ice Arena.

Junior forward Dane Walters managed to get his stick on the puck during a scramble in front of Michigan’s goal with 57 seconds remaining in regulation to give the No. 4/No. 6 Broncos a win over the No. 3 Wolverines.

“We were trying to get pucks out in front of the goal net, that’s kind of how it happened,” Walters said after the game. “We had the puck thrown out in front of the net, Chase [Balisy] saw me backdoor, tried to kick it to me, went off a few sticks and pads. I just saw it and whacked at it, got knocked down, and the next thing I knew I saw it crossing the goal line, so it was pretty nice.”

The win improves Western Michigan’s record to 6-0-3, and 4-0-1-1 in CCHA play. Meanwhile, the Wolverines drop to 6-2-1, and 2-2-1-1 within the conference.

After overcoming a 2-0 deficit in the second period, Michigan was not able to complete the comeback in the final frame.

“We shouldn’t run out of steam,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “This is Friday night and this is at home. There is no excuse for that. Our players tried hard, but I can’t tell you we played well. We were outworked and we were out-this and out-that in the third period. We had isolated chances on rushes and he either made a save or we did not get a break. Let’s face it, it was a sloppy goal to give up in a close game like that.”

Western Michigan seized control of the game early, with Ian Slater and Brett Beebe scoring in the first 23:11 of the contest.

The Wolverines’ two goals came from Kevin Clare and Mac Bennett – both 3:12 apart in the second period.

“Well there was no surprise, we knew Western would come in here and play well and play hard and they did,” Berenson said. “They got that all important lead and we got back in the game in the second and I thought we had a better second period and we had some momentum. Then we had to kill a couple of penalties, which did not help us because even if they do not score it gives the other team some offensive momentum in the game. Then in the last 10 minutes of the game, when the game was on the line, I thought we got outplayed and outworked and we played most of that 10 minutes in our own zone.”

Nick Pisellini made 34 saves to get the win, while Shawn Hunwick made 22 for the Wolverines.