Sunday, November 12, 2006

Western Michigan beats, ties Ohio State

Western Michigan rallied from two goals down to post an 8-5 win over Ohio State Friday night and then battled to a 2-2 tie last night on the road.

The eight goals Friday were the most scored by the Broncos since an 8-6 win over Notre Dame on Dec. 5, 2003.

OSU's Andrew Schembri scored his second goal of the night just 32 seconds into the second period to give the Buckeyes a 4-2 lead before WMU responded with five straight goals, including a pair on the power play, as Western Michigan finished 4-for-9 on the man advantage.

"We didn't get rattled," said Broncos' head coach Jim Culhane. "They (OSU) had the momentum but we were able to respond. We had contributions from a lot of different people and were able to stick to our game plan."

A total of 13 Broncos recorded points, highlighted by three-point efforts from Brian Bicek (two goals, assist), Paul Szczechura (two goals, assist) and Jeff Pierce (three assists). Bicek notched his second straight multiple-goal game. Freshman Chris Clackson scored his first collegiate goal, while Mike Lesperance recorded the game-winner, scoring on a breakaway at 8:04 of the third period. Kevin Labatte and Jeff LoVecchio also tallied for the Broncos.

Freshman goaltender Riley Gill (pictured from '05-06 with the NAHL's Texarkana Bandits) made 19 saves in the process.

Last night, Gill stopped 35 shots to gain the stalemate.

All four goals were scored in the second period as Kevin O'Connor and Pierce scored for the visitors. O'Connor's tally was the first of his collegiate career and Pierce, who assisted on the goal, has compiled eight points in his last three games.

"We played well on special teams, and we're especially pleased to get three points during this road series," Culhane said. "I thought we competed hard and played with discipline and you have to do that to be successful on the road in this conference."

WMU (4-4-1, 3-4-1 CCHA) plays host to Northern Michigan this weekend.

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