#8/8 Western Michigan (12-7-5, 9-4-3-3 CCHA ) vs #20/NR Miami (12-10-2 ,8-8-2-0 CCHA)
When: Friday, Jan. 20 7:35 p.m./Saturday, Jan. 21, 7:05 p.m.
Where: Oxford, Ohio - Steve Cady Arena
Radio: Friday/Saturday: 96.5 WKZO and www.wkzo.com/listen-live
Television: Miami All-Access live stream (fee required) http://www.muredhawks.com/allaccess/
LAST WEEK
On Friday the Broncos found themselves down 2-1 in the third period before potting two goals in 14 seconds to take a 3-2 lead with 7:39 remaining in the game. Western Michigan held on to earn their fourth CCHA road win of the season, downing Notre Dame 3-2. Dane Walters spotted the Broncos an early 1-0 lead with a goal just 3:42 into the first period. WMU surrendered two goals in and then struck back with Chase Balisy's eighth of the season at 12:07 in the third period. Just 14 seconds later Kyle O'Kane deflected a shot by Danny DeKeyser into the net for the game-winner. Frank Slubowski made 24 saves to earn his seventh win of the season.
On Saturday the Broncos shut down the Fighting Irish, holding them to just one goal during a five-on-three Notre Dame power play. The Broncos capitalized on the man advantage twice as Matt Tennyson and Chase Balisy each tallied goals and Jordan Oesterle put the nail in the coffin to put WMU up 3-1 in the third period to seal the win.
SERIES HISTORY
Miami leads the all-time series 54-51-10 and were 3-1-1 against the Broncos last season. Western Michigan is 0-9-1 in its last 10 games in Oxford with the one tie coming last season as the Broncos rebounded from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game at 3-3 and then win the shootout.
Ian Slater and Greg Squires each have five points in their careers against the RedHawks. Slater leads all Broncos with three goals and Squires has amassed four assists.
SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
The RedHawks (12-10-2, 8-8-2-0, CCHA) lost several stars off of their CCHA Tournament Championship team that defeated WMU 5-2 for their first ever Mason Cup last year. A few key veterans remain and a stellar group of freshman have helped Miami rebound from a slow start, winning four of their last six including a sweep at Michigan State.
One of the most dangerous returning RedHawks is junior winger Reilly Smith. The Dallas Stars draft pick leads the team in goals with 14 and points with 21. Six of his 14 goals have come on the power play this season and five of his goals this season have resulted in game-winners for Miami. Freshman center Austin Czarnik sits just behind Smith with 18 points on seven goals and 11 assists. Czarnik, who is draft eligible, spent time with Team USA at the 2012 World Junior Championships in late December and early January. Freshman Jimmy Mullin, who was drafted by Tampa Bay, is tied with Czarnik and two other RedHawks for second on the team with seven goals. So far this season 26 of Miami's 66 goals have been scored by freshmen.
Once again Chris Wideman is the leading scorer for the RedHawks amongst defensemen. The senior blue-liner has a knack for assists with 74 in his four-year career at Miami. Although the Miami defense has provided little goal scoring with just four goals coming from defenseman this year.
While at times the RedHawks have had some troubles scoring, the defense has consistently limited its opponents chances and when those chances have come, two veteran backstops in Connor Knapp and Cody Reichard. Reichard has started six career games against the Broncos with a 4-1-1 record and is the only RedHawk to fall to the Broncos in the last four years. Knapp is undefeated in five games against WMU with a 4-0-1 record with a 1.38 goals against average and a .938 save percentage.
HOW SWEEP IT IS
Western Michigan earned its fourth series sweep last weekend with its pair of wins against Notre Dame, matching the number of sweeps it had last season. Previously the Broncos had swept Alabama-Huntsville, Northern Michigan and Ferris State.
The sweep over No. 3 Notre Dame was the third sweep of a ranked opponent this year for WMU. NMU was ranked 14th when the Broncos hosted them and Ferris State was ranked sixth in the nation when they were swept by the Brown & Gold in a home-and-home series.
UNBEATEN
The Broncos are in the midst of a seven game unbeaten streak in conference action, going 5-0-2.
During the streak the Broncos have outscored opponents 24-11, holding opponents to just 1.6 goals per game and scoring 3.4. As a team WMU has killed off 25 of 26 of opponents power plays, an impressive 96.1 percent. WMU's power play has also put up impressive numbers, netting nine goals on 27 chances.
Individually Dane Walters has led WMU with eight points through the streak on six goals and two assists. Four different Broncos have averaged a point per game during the seven games. Matt Tennyson (3-4-7), Chase Balisy (2-5-7), Dennis Brown (1-6-7) and Shane Berschbach (0-7-7) have all tallied seven points during the streak. Frank Slubowski has started each game with a 1.54 goals against average and a .934 save percentage.
CHASING BALISY
WMU's Chasen, or Chase, Balisy netted the game-winning goal in Saturday night's 3-1 win over Notre Dame for his team-leading 24th point of the season. The goal extended a career-long goal-scoring streak to five games. Balisy finished second on the team in scoring last season but has led the way all season for the Broncos. Linemates Dane Walters and Shane Berschbach have been chasing Balisy for the for the scoring lead all season but Walters sits six points back and Berschbach is two behind.
