WMU’s Conrad and Gorsuch, Miami’s Daschke take NCHC weekly honors

By @StefanKubus – 

For the first time in program history, Western Michigan came away with a road sweep of North Dakota this past weekend.

And Colt Conrad and Trevor Gorsuch played a huge part in it.

Conrad, a senior forward, was named NCHC Offensive Player of the Week and also NCAA Second Star of the Week after posting six points in the two games.

In Friday’s 2-0 win, Conrad potted an empty-net goal to put the game away, but it was in Saturday’s career-high five-point game that he truly shined.

Conrad scored the Broncos’ first goal in Saturday’s tilt to even the score at 1-1. He then went on to set up the next two WMU goals, including the game winner en route to a 6-2 win. He also assisted on two more goals for a career-high four helpers in the contest.

Conrad became the first Bronco with a five-point game since Justin Kovacs on Nov. 29, 2014.

Goaltender of the Week

Gorsuch, meanwhile, stopped a career-high 32 shots in Friday’s 2-0 shutout, the second of his career and season. The senior netminder then went on to turn aside 30 shots in the Broncos’ 6-2 win on Saturday, with both North Dakota goals coming on the power play. He was the only NCHC goalie to post two wins this past weekend.

A .969 save percentage, shutout and 1.00 goals-against average earned him NCHC Goaltender of the Week honors.

Daschke named Rookie of the Week

Derek Daschke, a Troy native and freshman defenseman, posted two points in Saturday’s overtime win for his Miami RedHawks, including the primary helper on the OT winner. Daschke helped the RedHawks kill 10 of 11 penalties on the weekend.

He finished the weekend with a goal, assist, five shots, three blocked shots and a plus-1 rating. For the season, Daschke has a team-best plus-12 rating and an impressive 11 points in 14 games from the blue line.