Seniors Guide Broncos to Victory Over Miami

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Thanks to a great game from its seniors, Western Michigan was able to complete a sweep of Miami on Saturday night at Lawson Arena. The Broncos downed the RedHawks, 6-1. 

In total, the Brown and Gold got 12 points from its seniors. Joe Cassetti led the way with two goals and one assist. Chad Hillebrand added two shorthanded tallies and Carter Berger finished the night with one goal and one assist. In net, Cameron Rowe was sensational, making 24 saves. 

FIRST PERIOD

Early in the first frame, WMU was called for boarding. After a pair of saves by Rowe, Hillebrand chipped the puck out of the zone and out skated the RedHawks’ defender down the ice. After some nice moves in front, he lit the lamp for the game’s first goal. 

A couple minutes later, Western Michigan got its first look on the power play. Dylan Wendt and Alex Bump would get looks on net, but the score remained 1-0. Eventually, Miami would earn another power play, thanks to a cross checking call on the Broncos. 

Miami wouldn’t tally a shot, but Hillebrand made another nice defensive play at the blue line and skated down on a breakaway. He would light the lamp for his second shorthanded goal of the night and pushed WMU in front 2-0 with just over eight minutes left in the opening 20 minutes. 

Down the stretch, WMU would kill off one more Miami power play and head to the locker room with a 2-0 advantage. 

SECOND PERIOD

After a few good looks from WMU to open the period, Miami was able to score its lone goal of the game to make it a 2-1 Bronco lead. 

Both teams would kill off penalties as the game moved to the middle portion of the second frame, and WMU would go on the attack from there. Just after WMU’s power play ended, Berger lit the lamp to put the Broncos in front 3-1. 

Exactly two minutes later, Cassetti ripped a shot into the net against his former team to extend WMU’s advantage to 4-1 with under nine minutes to play in the middle frame. 

A few minutes later, Zak Galambos joined the scoring party, using a nice feed from Cassetti to score the Broncos’ fifth goal of the night. Twenty seconds later, Western Michigan scored its sixth and final goal of the night to grab a 6-1 lead. Cassetti tallied his second goal of the night. 

THIRD PERIOD

Miami changed goalies to begin the final period, and the Brown and Gold tested him early. Daniel Hilsendager and Hillebrand had strong looks on net in the opening couple minutes. 

Rowe and the WMU defense were put under a little bit of pressure in the middle part of the period, but the RedHawks were unable to put anything on the scoreboard. 

With under four minutes to play, WMU was sent off for hooking, giving Miami one last chance to make some noise on offense. The Broncos had no trouble killing the penalty, allowing the RedHawks to get just two shots on net. 

Western Michigan would go on to secure a 6-1 victory, sending its seniors out with a sweep of rival Miami. 

UP NEXT

Western Michigan will wait to see who it plays in the opening round of the NCHC Playoffs. Opening round action is set to begin on Friday, March 15.