College weekend recaps: Broncos, Spartans split, Wolverines drop both, and more

By Michael Caples –

It was another wild weekend of college hockey for Michigan’s NCAA D-1 schools. The Broncos and the Miami RedHawks took part in a No. 1 vs. No 2 CCHA series, while the Wolverines traveled to South Bend, the Spartans played a home-and-home with Bowling Green, the Bulldogs traveled Northern Michigan, and the Huskies welcomed Alaska Anchorage to Houghton.

Here’s a series-by-series breakdown:

Broncos, RedHawks exchange shutouts

A first-period goal from Jordan Osterle and a third-period goal from Chase Balisy turned out to be plenty for Western Michigan, because of Frank Slubowski. The Broncos’ goaltender stopped all 32 shots he faced from a potent Miami offense, blanking the RedHawks to give his team a 2-0 home win to start their series.

It was another shutout on Saturday, but it wouldn’t be in the Broncos’ favor. Ryan McKay stopped 29 shots to shut out Western Michigan and regain the top spot in the CCHA standings for the RedHawks. Livonia native Riley Barber, Max Cook, Curtis McKenzie and Marc Hagel scored for the RedHawks. Slubowski and Lukas Hafner combined for 25 saves in the loss.

Spartans split with Falcons

Michigan State traveled down to Bowling Green on Friday, and the bus ride back wasn’t very enjoyable for the Spartans. MSU managed only one goal in the contest, and it came in the first 20 minutes from captain Greg Wolfe. Ben Murphy and Ryan Carpenter scored power-play goals for the Falcons, which ended up being the difference in the contest. Will Yanakeff stopped 24 shots in the loss.

Things went better for the Spartans on Saturday, however. Wolfe scored twice (the latter being an empty-netter) and Tanner Sorenson scored for Michigan State, leading them to a 3-1 win. Jake Hildebrand stopped 27 shots to get the win for the Spartans in goal.

Wolverines drop both in South Bend

Just six days after they swept rival Michigan State, the Michigan Wolverines failed to capitalize on the momentum swing for their season. Anders Lee, David Gerths and Michigan native Bryan Rust all scored twice for the Irish Friday night, as they posted a convincing 7-4 win over Michigan. Jon Merrill, Derek DeBlois Andrew Copp and Cristoval Nieves scored for the Wolverines, while Jared Rutledge stopped 28 shots.

It was more of the same on Saturday. Anders Lee and Jeff Costello each scored a goal and two assists, Rust scored again, and the Irish won 6-4. Alex Guptill, Phil Di Giuseppe, Kevin Lynch and Mac Bennett scored for the Wolverines, while Jacob Trouba had three assists. Rutledge and Adam Janecyk split time between the pipes, stopping a combined 27 shots in the loss.

Bulldogs and Wildcats split

A lengthy bus ride didn’t bother the Bulldogs on Friday. Ferris State received goals from Brandon Anselmini, captain Kyle Bonis and an empty-net goal in the third period from Travis Ouellete for a 3-1 win over the Wildcats. CJ Motte stopped 23 to get the win. Ryan Aynsley had the lone goal for the Wildcats, while Jared Coreau stopped 15 shots.

The Wildcats were able to get some revenge on Saturday, however, as they picked up a 3-0 win.  Mitch Jones, Reed Seckel and Stephan Vigier scored for Northern Michigan, while Coreau stopped all 19 shots he faced. Motte, meanwhile, turned aside 30 shots without any offensive help.

Huskies split with Alaska Anchorage

Four unanswered goals from the visitors stunned the Huskies Friday night, as they fell 5-4 to the Seawolves Friday night. UAA scored three goals in the third period alone to rally and beat MTU. Aaron Pietila, Ryan Furne, Steve Seigo and Milos Gordic scored for Michigan Tech, while Pheonix Copley and David Johnstone combined for 33 saves.

Things went better on Saturday for the Huskies, as they posted a dominating 6-1 win in the rematch. Alex Petan scored twice, while Walker Hyland, Malcolm Gould, Milos Gordic and C.J. Eick scored for the Huskies, while Copley rebounded to stop 21 of 22 shots to get the win.