On Thursday we previewed this marquee matchup in NCHC conference play between the St. Cloud State Huskies and Western Michigan Broncos. Coming in the Huskies were on a hot streak and didn’t look to be cooling down anytime soon. The Broncos, on the other hand, were on a bit of a skid being 3-3 in their last six contests. These two top 10 teams promised to be an exciting matchup and Friday night did not disappoint.
Game 1
Friday night saw an electric atmosphere in Lawson Arena, despite many students having already left for spring break. The Lunatics were still out in full force and looking to help knock off the nations top team. It only took 78 seconds for the Huskies to quiet the crowd as conference point leader, Patrick Newell, fired one past Trevor Gorsuch for the early lead. The lead held for the rest of the period.
The Broncos got their crowd back into the game early in the second as Paul Washe snuck one by David Hrenak to tie the game. From there the Broncos assaulted Hrenak firing 18 second period shots and with five minutes remaining sounded the horns once again. This one coming from Dawson DiPietro after he forced a turnover and sniped one over Hrenak’s shoulder. After 40 minutes the Broncos were feeling good as they went into the locker room outshooting the Huskies 31-17 and holding a 2-1 lead.
Less than three minutes into the third, Austin Rueschhoff extended the Broncos lead to 3-1. But while the Broncos were still, celebrating Huskie captain Jimmy Schuldt cut the lead back down to one. The Broncos again extended their lead to two later in the third. This time Drew Worrad got in on the action, but again the Huskies answered less than a minute later. Easton Brodzinski made it a 4-3 game a little over halfway through the third.
St. Cloud is one of the best teams in the country when it comes to playing from behind. They already had 10 come from behind wins this season and were in prime position for an 11th when Robby Jackson tied the game with three minutes remaining. As the final minute winded down, the game appeared to be headed to overtime. The Broncos were caught napping though as Patrick Newell made a heads up steal and fired to Robby Jackson who sniped one past Gorsuch for a 5-4 lead. With 14.2 seconds remaining the home crowd was deflated. The Broncos took two shots with their goalie pulled but weren’t able to tie things up. St. Cloud State scored three unanswered goals to take game one.
Game 2
Saturday night was senior night in Kalamazoo. Unfortunately for the Broncos, SCSU was looking to play spoiler. Almost mirroring Friday night, the Huskies got on the board in the first minute of the game. This time they did not look back. The Huskies netted two more goals in the first and sent Bronco goaltender Trevor Gorsuch to the bench on his senior night. His replacement didn’t have any more success. Ben Blacker gave up three more goals in the second before head coach Andy Murray put Gorsuch back in to finish the period. Gorsuch gave up one more goal to end his night and make the score 7-0 going into the third.
The Broncos got on the board early in the third, ending SCSU’s streak of 10 unanswered goals going back to the night before. Dawson DiPietro scored his second goal of the series and Wade Allison scored as well to give the Broncos a little bit of energy. Senior Will Massey made his college debut between the pipes for the Broncos in the third. He only gave up one goal while stopping eight more. Despite being outshot on the night 40-28, the Huskies went on to win 8-2.
The Huskies showed why they are the best team in the country this weekend and continued their hot streak. This team is a wagon and should be heavy favorites to win a national championship.
All photographs used in this article were taken by Emily Robbins. You can follow her on twitter @Emily_Robbins16 and Instagram @_emily37_ . If you’re a photography enthusiast or just enjoy cool pictures she’s a must follow.