Weekend college recaps: Broncos sweep Bulldogs, Spartans drop both

The Broncos picked up two home wins against Ferris State, the Lakers split with the RedHawks, the Huskies tied the Badgers twice, and the Spartans struggled against the Irish.

Broncos sweep Bulldogs

The Broncos welcomed rival Ferris State to Western Michigan this weekend, and sent them home with two losses.

On Friday, senior Dane Walters had two goals, leading WMU to a 4-2 win. Kenney Morrison and Mike Leone also scored for the Broncos, while Frank Slubowski only had to stop 13 shots to pick up another win. Garrett Thompson and Travis Ouellette had the goals for Ferris, while C.J. Motte stopped 28 shots.

A late rally meant the same outcome for the Broncos on Saturday. Western Michigan received power-play goals in the final five minutes of regulation from Chase Balisy and Leone, helping them turn a 1-0 deficit to a 2-1 win. Slubowski made 25 saves, while Motte stopped 33.

Western Michigan is now No. 3 in the CCHA, and Ferris State sits at No. 5.

Spartans swept by Irish

It wasn’t the best of trips for the Michigan State Spartans. Playing in South Bend for a weekend series with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, MSU dropped the first contest 3-2, and the series finale 5-1.

Friday’s game, a national TV broadcast on the NBC Sports Network, saw the Spartans keep it close for 60 minutes, but they couldn’t find the game-tying goal during a surge in the final minutes. Sophomore forward Brent Darnell had both of the Spartans’ goals, and freshman goaltender Jake Hildebrand continued his impressive rookie campaign, stopping 36 shots.

On Saturday, the Spartans weren’t able to keep it so close. Five different Irish players scored, and MSU was only able to answer on a lone goal from sophomore forward Matt Berry. Will Yanakeff tended to the pipes for the Spartans, stopping 18 shots.

Notre Dame holds the top spot in the CCHA, while Michigan State now checks in at No. 9.

Lakers earn split in Oxford

Lake Superior rebounded from a 3-2 loss on Friday to record a 1-0 win over one of the best offenses in the conference Saturday night.

On Friday, the Lakers opened the scoring on a goal from junior Kellan Lain, but three straight from Miami (including one from Riley Barber) put them in a hole they couldn’t escape. Chris Ciotti added a power-play goal for LSSU, but they ended up dropping Game 1 by a score of 3-2. Kevin Kapalka stopped 42 shots in the loss.

On Saturday, however, the Lakers shut out the RedHawks, en route to a 1-0 win. Junior goaltender Kevin Murdock stopped 46 shots fired his way, and Domenic Monardo scored the lone goal in the contest.

Miami is No. 2 in the CCHA, while Lake Superior is No. 7.

Michigan Tech ties Wisconsin twice

With no shootouts in WCHA play, Michigan Tech left Wisconsin with no winner decided in the weekend series.

On Friday, the Huskies and the Badgers played to a 1-1 tie. Blake Pietila had the lone goal for MTU, while Kevin Genoe stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced.

The next night, both teams found more offense, only to tie once again. Blake Hietala’s goal in the third period made it a 3-3 game, and overtime didn’t change anything. Malcolm Gould and Steven Seigo also scored for the Huskies, while Genoe stopped 34 shots.

Michigan Tech now checks in at No. 8 in the WCHA standings. Wisconsin is No. 10.

Note: Northern Michigan topped Michigan Tech 2-1 in a rare Tuesday night contest. C.J. Ludwig and Erik Higby had the goals for the Wildcats, while Brad Stebner scored the lone goal for Tech.