Five Western Michigan players scored and Brandon Bussi made 26 saves to lead Western Michigan to a 5-2 victory over Colorado College Friday night at Lawson Arena.
 
The Broncos took a 1-0 lead when Ethen Frank scored on the power play at the 7:27 mark of the first period. A shot by Michael Joyeaux from the right point was redirected by Austin Rueschhoff and went right to Frank in front of an empty net.
 
Wade Allison made it 2-0 at the 14:44 mark of the opening frame with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle that went over the shoulder of CC goalie Matt Vernon, then Hugh McGing put the Broncos ahead 3-0 just 53 seconds into the second period by completing a 2-on-1 rush with Mattias Samuelsson.
 
Chris Wilkie did his best to keep the Tigers in the game, scoring the next two goals to cut WMU's lead to one. He took a lead pass from Nick Halloran and scored through WMU goalie Brandon Bussi's legs on a breakaway at the 5:06 mark, then went five-hole again off another pass from Halloran at the 11:37 mark for his second of the game.
 
Wilkie has scored at least one goal in five consecutive games, the longest streak by a Tiger since Halloran scored in five straight during the 2017-18 campaign.
 
The Tigers had several chances to even the game, including a breakaway attempt by Grant Cruikshank that Bussi saved with 6:35 remaining in the second period. 
 
The Tigers never got the equalizer and Lawton Courtnall put the Broncos back up by a pair with a goal at the 5:13 mark of the third period. Paul Washe took a shot from the left boards that was blocked by a CC defender in front but it went right to Courtnall, who was all alone on the back side.
 
Rhett Kingston closed the scoring when his shot from the left corner deflected off a CC defender's stick and ended up going over Vernon's shoulder with 7:23 remaining in the third period.
 
What Head Coach Mike Haviland Said
"They came out hard and got the 2-0 lead. The third goal really hurt us. Then we got the two goals and got some momentum in the second."
 
"We didn't manage the puck in the third period. We had opportunities but couldn't score. We have to make some adjustments and get some production from everybody. We had guys that got chances but they have to bear down and score goals."
 
"I thought Zach (Berzolla) was very good, one of our bright spots tonight, but we have to win as a team, not individually."
 
Colorado College Notes
Wilkie led the Tigers with five shots and has eight goals in his last five games
Halloran had multiple assists for the fifth time this season
Matt Vernon finished with 37 saves
Connor Mayer led CC with three blocked shots
WMU outshot the Tigers, 42-28
CC was 0-3 on the power play; Western Michigan was 1-2
 
Up Next
The Tigers and Western Michigan battle again on Saturday, Jan. 18.