Broncos stop Wolverines for second straight year

By Stefan Kubus –

DETROIT – For the second year in a row, the Western Michigan Broncos thwarted the Michigan Wolverines’ chance at winning the Mason Cup.

Last season, the Wolverines fell to the Broncos in the CCHA semifinals, 5-2. This year, the Wolverines suffered an incredibly close 3-2 defeat in the CCHA title game.

“We needed one shot, and we had that shot, but it didn’t hit the net,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “Hats off to Western. They were a good team all year, and they’re a good team down here. They deserved to win, but I thought our team was right there.”

Berenson said that the Broncos’ program revival – they were near the bottom of the conference just a few years ago – was only a matter of time in his post-game press conference.

“Well, I think it’s long overdue,” Berenson said. “It should be a good program. They’ve had good players, good teams, good coaches. It’s good to see them down there… Western, they’re right in the heart of Michigan with a lot of good players and a lot of good hockey. I don’t know if they just needed a change, but obviously last year something clicked and they’re back here, so good for them.”

Senior captain Luke Glendening said that the loss was a familiar feeling – one that he doesn’t want to have again.

“It’s never fun to lose, but I guess that feeling of defeat, we don’t want to have that again,” said Glendening. “This is the third time for me losing in a championship game, so I definitely don’t want to be in that situation again.”

After playing to double overtime in the semifinals against Bowling Green the night before, there were questions of how the Wolverines would perform early in the contest. Less than two minutes in, they were tested on the penalty kill.

Not only did they keep the Broncos off the board, but Grand Rapids native and team captain Luke Glendening had an excellent chance to put his club up early. Glendening took advantage of a Western Michigan miscue at the blue line, raced down the ice with one defender staying with him, and barely put the puck high and over the Broncos’ freshman goalie Frank Slubowski.

That successful penalty kill gave the Wolverines a slight boost in momentum from there, but the Broncos would soon nix that.

With 6:34 remaining, Ian Slater kicked off the scoring. Senior J.J. Crew let a shot go from the point that Michigan senior netminder Shawn Hunwick had difficulty controlling, and the Western Michigan captain snuck behind the Wolverine defenders in front, reached around Hunwick, and slid in the game’s first goal. The secondary assist went to Dearborn Heights native Jordan Oesterle.

The Wolverines headed off the ice down 1-0, but with the 9-7 lead in shots.

Michigan would have its opportunities to get things rolling in the second period, but the power play couldn’t put one in the back of the net, going 0-for-2.

The same could not be said for Andy Murray’s Western Michigan squad, however.

With 9:11 to go, junior defenseman Lee Moffie was whistled for interference, and the Broncos went back to work. This time, they made it count. After some nifty passing in the offensive zone, Dane Walters banged home a rebound goal that Hunwick tried to poke away.

Broncos sophomore Chase Balisy added a third goal for his club, leaving the Wolverines trailing by three heading into the third, though ahead 20-19 in shots.

The Maize and Blue would get a desperately-needed opportunity late in the period to get on the board with a power play, but freshman sensation Alex Guptill – who turned out to be a pleasant surprise all year – took a penalty at the 20-minute mark to cancel that out.

Frustration started settling in the Wolverines bench early in the third. Once again, Michigan took a penalty with the man-advantage just 50 seconds into their power play.

At the six-minute mark, Brighton native and New Jersey Devils prospect Jon Merrill took a five-minute major for kneeing WMU’s Kyle O’Kane.

While the Broncos would not strike, sophomore defenseman Kevin Clare saw the opportunity to get his team back in the contest.

With a little under four minutes to kill in the major penalty, Clare jumped in on a 2-on-2 rush, slipped past a Western Michigan defender, and made a slick deke to the backhand to break Slubowski’s shutout and pull within two.

The Wolverines would then have a chance of their own at a five-minute power play with nine minutes to go in the game.

And they wouldn’t make the same mistake the Broncos did.

With 2:25 left in the major to Slater, and six minutes left in the game, Moffie lit the lamp to pull within one. Assists went to sophomore Luke Moffatt and Bloomfield Hills native A.J. Treais. The Wolverines continued on with the power play, but couldn’t manage to bang home the equalizer.

That’s the way things would stand for the remainder of the game, as the Western Michigan Broncos took home the Mason Cup, only their second CCHA title ever (the first came in 1986).

Next up for Red Berenson’s bunch? Although they dropped the CCHA title game, their third-place finish in the national rankings sets them up nicely for an NCAA tournament birth. The official tournament seedings will be determined at noon on Sunday.

“I feel like this is a really close team,” Glendening said. “We don’t have the prolific goal scorers that we’ve had in the past, like Carl [Hagelin] and [Louie] Caporusso, but I feel like our team is really close. We focus a lot on defense, and I think we definitely have a chance to make a run if we do the little things correct.”

For the Wolverines, it was their 16th appearance in the championship game over a span of 23 straight semifinal contests, dating back to 1989.