North Dakota Fighting Hawks
at #9 Western Michigan Broncos
Friday, Feb. 15 • 5:30 pm (CT) • Lawson Arena (3,667) • Kalamazoo, Mich.
Saturday, Feb. 16 • 6:00 pm (CT) • Lawson Arena (3,667) • Kalamazoo, Mich.
TV: CBS Sports Network (Friday only)
Radio: Home of Economy Radio Network
Webcast: NCHC.tv (Saturday)
Live stats: www.WMUBroncos.com
 
THIS WEEKEND:
North Dakota comes out of the open week with some big games on the docket in the final month of the season. It starts this weekend in Kalamazoo, Mich., against the ninth-ranked Western Michigan Broncos at Lawson Arena.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Receive live updates and news during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter.
 
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Friday's game will be telecast live on CBS Sports Network. Both games will also be available via streaming at NCHC.tv.
 
ABOUT THE BRONCOS
Western Michigan sits comfortably in third place in the NCHC standings heading into the final month of the regular season. WMU is just two points shy of Minnesota Duluth for second place after a stretch that has seen the Broncos win 12 of their last 16 games to vault up the standings and into the top 10 in the national polls for the last three consecutive weeks.
 
WMU Coaching Staff                                                                                                                                                                                   
Andy Murray (Brandon University '72), the father of former UND standout Brady Murray, is in his eighth season behind the Broncos' bench and is 134-125-35 (.515) during his tenure.
 
Murray's staff includes associate head coach  and former Alaska Anchorage head coach Dave Shyiak (Northern Michigan '91), as well as assistant coach Todd Kryiger (Connecticut '88).
 
SERIES HISTORY
UND has won 18 of the 24 all-time meetings with Western Michigan, but the Broncos have won five of the last seven meetings.
 
Senior Rhett Gardner (Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan) leads all active Fighting Hawks with eight points in 11 career games versus WMU.
 
The Broncos swept North Dakota at the Ralph Engelstad Arena on Nov. 16 and 17 this season. WMU won Friday 2-0 before a Saturday 6-2 victory. WMU went into that weekend at 4-6-0 overall and has gone 12-3-1 since.
 
LAST MEETINGS BETWEEN THESE TEAMS:
Western Michigan broke a scoreless tie in the third period on a Josh Passolt goal at the 12:23 mark and added an empty netter for a 2-0 win back on Nov. 16 in Grand Forks. Passolt would add two more goals Saturday as WMU erased a 1-0 UND lead with five unanswered tallies en route to a 6-2 win for the sweep.
 
LAST SERIES
North Dakota got a single point at seventh-ranked Denver, but dueled in a pair of closely-contested games. UND fell, 2-1, Friday despite peppering DU goalie Filip Larsson with 46 shots on goal. Saturday, Larsson again allowed just one goal, but Adam Scheel only squandered one as well and was sensational in the overtime and 3-on-3 overtime before Brett Stapley gave the Pios the extra NCHC point with a goal late in the 3-on-3 period.
 
POLL POSITION
UND is receiving votes in the Feb. 11 USCHO.com poll (would be T21st). North Dakota did not appear in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll also released this week. WMU is ranked ninth in both polls.
 
STRONG NCHC FLAVOR IN THE POLLS
Not only does St. Cloud State top both polls, but three other NCHC teams find themselves in the top 10. Reigning national champion Minnesota Duluth sits at No. 4 in both polls, Denver is seventh and Western Michigan sits in ninth to make four NCHC teams among the top 10.
 
HANDLING THE RANKED TEAMS
North Dakota has eight wins against teams that were ranked when they played. UND is 8-6-1 against ranked teams this season.
 
NO RUN-OF-THE-MILL KILL
North Dakota has successfully killed off 12 straight penalties and is in the middle of a stretch where the only time an opponent scored on the power play in the last 20 chances was an empty net situation (vs. SCSU Jan. 25).
 
GETTING THEM OFF THEIR PEDESTAL
UND has beaten the No. 1 team in the country in each of the last four seasons.
 
2018-19     Jan 26 vs. SCSU             W, 5-1
2017-18     Nov 17 at Denver            W, 5-4
2016-17     Mar 17 vs Denver            W, 1-0  (NCHC Semifinals)
2015-16     Apr 9 vs Quinnipiac         W, 5-1  (national championship game)
 
BOWEN, BOWEN, ROLLIN'
Junior Dixon Bowen had just one point through his first 16 games played this season, but has come on to tally five points in his las seven games. He scored against Colorado College (Jan. 12) then added a pair of assists at Omaha (Jan 18) a game later. Saturday, he registered his first career two-goal game vs. top-ranked St. Cloud State.
 
ADAM GOOD GOALIE
Freshman Adam Scheel was named the NCHC Rookie of the Week for his performance vs. #1 St. Cloud State on Jan. 28. He stopped a career-high 33 shots in the Friday 3-1 loss (one EN), then steered the team to a win Saturday, 5-1. For the weekend, he posted a 1.57 goals against average with a .948 save percentage for the series.
 
UND's NCHC weekly honorees
Oct. 29:    Colton Poolman (Defenseman)
Nov. 5:     Adam Scheel (Goaltender)
Nov. 26:    Jacob Bernard-Docker (Defenseman)
Dec. 10:    Colton Poolman (Defenseman)
Jan. 14:    Jacob Bernard-Docker (Defenseman)
Jan. 21:    Gabe Bast (Defenseman)
Jan. 28     Adam Scheel (Rookie)
 
TAKING DOWN THE BIG BOYS
Scheel has eight wins over ranked teams this season after a Jan. 26 takedown (5-1) of #1 St. Cloud State. In the 16 games in which he's played against a ranked team, he's compiled am 8-5-1 record with a shutout and a ridiculous 1.57 goals against average and .934 save percentage.
 
Wins over ranked teams for Scheel
Date            Opponent                             Score
Oct 20     vs.#7  Minnesota State               4-3
Oct 27     vs. #5  Minnesota                       3-1
Nov 2      vs. #16 Wisconsin                      5-0
Nov 3      vs. #16 Wisconsin                      3-2
Nov 9      at #19 Miami                               3-1
Dec 1       at #2 Minn. Duluth                     2-1
Dec 7       vs. #6 Denver                            4-1
Jan 26      vs. #1 St. Cloud St                    5-1
 
WHEN IT HAINS, IT POURS
Gavin Hain delivered his first career two-goal game in the Jan. 26 win over #1 St. Cloud State. He scored the first goal to put UND ahead in the first period then added another in the third period as his line was in on three of the five UND goals.
 
MAKING HIS MARK
Freshman Mark Senden has four goals this season with three of them game-winners. His other goal was a short-handed tally at Canisius. Senden is second on the team in plus/minus at +7.
 
FIRST L AFTER LEADING THROUGH FORTY
The Fighting Hawks took a loss for the first time this season when leading after two periods in the Saturday loss at Omaha. North Dakota went into the third period with a 3-2 advantage but the Mavericks got a pair of third-period goals to take a 4-3 win. UND is currently  9-1-1 when leading after 40 minutes this season. UND had lost the lead in each of the previous three occurrences but had rallied to post the win until that Omaha loss.
 
FACE FACTS HERE
UND has won the faceoff battle in all but four games this season (vs. WMU Nov. 16-17, vs. Denver Dec. 8 and Jan. 18 at Omaha-- all four losses).
 
DID I HEAR A NINER IN THERE?
North Dakota has nine different players with game-winning goals. Mark Senden's winner in the Saturday win over  St. Cloud State gave him a team-leading three, one of only three players with more than one (Rhett Gardner, Jackson Keane each have two).
 
KEANE EYE
Jackson Keane has two collegiate goals-- both of them are game-winners. He tallied his first Nov. 23 against Alaska-Anchorage but did not have a point after that until his three points and GWG Friday at Omaha.
 
GOOD, BETTER, BAST
Sophomore Gabe Bast was named the NCHC Defenseman of the Week after his performance in a split at Omaha Jan 18-19. Bast tallied his first career two-goal game Saturday and was a +2 on the weekend.
 
POOLMAN PROVES HE'S HUMAN
Junior captain Colton Poolman (East Grand  Forks, Minn.) missed his first collegiate games of his career at Denver on Feb. 1-2 due to injury, having played in all 105 of UND's games since he arrived on campus previously. Poolman is the fourth active Fighting Hawk to reach the 100-games milestone for his career. He joins seniors Rhett Gardner (139 games),  Hayden Shaw (127) and Joel Janatuinen (120). Poolman has four goals and seven assists through 25 games this season.
 

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