Western Michigan falls to North Dakota in NCAA Tournament

The CCHA Tournament champions lost to North Dakota 3-1 Saturday afternoon in Minnesota.

Like two of the three Michigan teams that played before them, the Western Michigan Broncos’ season came to an abrupt ending in the NCAA Tournament.

The Mason Cup champions fell to top-seeded North Dakota Saturday afternoon 3-1 in the West Regional semifinals.

“I want to congratulate North Dakota on moving on,” Broncos coach Andy Murray said. “They still have an opportunity to be national champions. Their coaching staff has done a tremendous job. They have had a few key injuries and persevered.

“It is the first time I have been through this in the dressing room. Seniors are graduating, and it is like losing a son or daughter who is leaving home or school. We have five seniors who won’t wear the Broncos’ jersey anymore, but the job they have done for this university is very commendable and they will always be Broncos. We had some opportunities. I thought we had some chances in the second period. Both teams fore-check hard and work hard. The power play has been a strength for us, but today we did not sustain any pressure. Commend the victors and we will start preparing our team for next year.”

Kyle O’Kane had the lone goal for the Broncos, who finished the season with a 21-14-6 record. Freshman goaltender Frank Slubowski had 25 saves in the loss.

“It was really exciting, any time your program has the chance to for the national title, it’s unreal,” Slubowski said. “It’s a pleasure playing with these guys, not just on the ice, but off the ice, too.”

North Dakota took the first lead 6:04 into the contest, when Michael Parks skated through pressure down the Western boards, around the back of the net, and finished off an impressive wraparound play.

Corban Knight increased UND’s lead to two at the 3:16 mark of the second period on one of those “right place at the right time” goals. A North Dakota shot by Danny Kristo went wide, hit a body behind the Western goal line, and landed right on Knight’s stick for the easy goal.

Western Michigan cut the lead in half with O’Kane’s goal, recorded at the 12:57 mark of the middle frame. The senior forward was able to spring free for a breakaway from the blue line in, and he roofed the puck over the glove of goaltender Aaron Dell.

Minutes later, the Broncos thought they had the tying goal, when Ian Slater drove to the goal and knocked in a rebound. However, the play was ruled a no-goal on the ice, and after video replay, the call was confirmed. The net was dislodged, and the puck might have also been swatted in by Slater’s hand.

“I have not seen it,” Murray said. “The referee wanted to come over and give me an explanation, but I just waived him away because ‘what are we going to do.’ We just wanted to keep the game going at that point and that is what we talked about.”

The Broncos were held off the scoresheet in the third period, while Brock Nelson added an empty-netter for North Dakota at the 19:35 mark.