Western Michigan gets past Minnesota State in NCAA hockey tournament

Two second period goals proved to be the difference for Western Michigan as the defending national champions are moving on in the NCAA hockey tournament, outlasting Minnesota State, 3-1, in a regional semifinal on Friday afternoon in Loveland, Colorado. Zaccharya Wisdom and Zach Bookman each scored in the second period for Western Michigan before Owen Michaels tacked on an empty netter with six seconds to play. Goalie Hampton Slukynsky starred, making a number of key saves among his 23 total.

Western Michigan will face the winner of the second game on Friday — No. 2 seed Denver and No. 3 seed Cornell — in a regional final on Sunday.

The Broncos are now just one win away from advancing to a second-straight Frozen Four after winning the title last season. WMU opened the scoring just more than two minutes into the second period, as Wisdom deflected a hard shot from distance to give WMU a 1-0 lead. About six minutes later, Bookman fired in a shot from the right corner at the blue line into traffic, beating Alex Tracy to put the Broncos up, 2-0.

It was just Bookman’s fourth goal of the season, and the 17th score on the year for Wisdom. Western Michigan’s lead wasn’t bulletproof, though, as Minnesota State’s Alex Zetterberg beat Slukynsky less than a minute into the third period, cutting the lead in half. And holding a 2-1 lead, Western Michigan had to cling on defensively early in the third period, giving up a power play with a number of juicy chances and six shots on goal in total — to just one of its own — about halfway into the frame.