KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team fell for the second time this weekend to Western Michigan University, 4-1. The Bulldogs fall to 12-7-2 on the year while the Broncos improve to 8-11-3. UMD was outdone on special teams this afternoon by WMU. The Broncos went 3-3 on the man advantage while the Bulldogs went 0-2 while a man up.

"I thought our compete level was good. They make it hard to make a lot of clean plays," said UMD Head Coach Scott Sandelin. "The game got away from us with two power play goals they got in the second period and we got a little disjointed. The difference was special teams."
 
Freshman goaltender Zach Stejskal was in between the pipes this afternoon, stopping 17 of 21 shots. Stejskal now carries a 3-2-0 record on the season with a .927 save percentage and a 1.78 goals against average. Goaltender Alex Aslanidis was credited with the win this afternoon, stopping 22 of 23 shots on goal.
 
The first period was fairly quiet, with a low amount of shots and the first penalty coming with just 10 seconds to go on the clock.

WMU struck while on the power play in the second period just 1:47 into the frame. After dumping the puck deep into UMD's zone, the Broncos worked the puck around the back of the net where it eventually came to the front where defenseman Ronnie Attard was able to slide it though Stejskal's legs. WMU struck again on the man advantage just a minute later. After skating the puck into the zone, Attard dished it to the corner, where it was worked around and thrown back to Attard. He had an open net as Stejskal was caught sliding side to side. Attard had his second of the evening.
 
The Broncos would strike once more in the second and again in the third before UMD was able to score their only goal of the evening. Senior defenseman Matt Cairns had the puck in the neutral zone before handing it off to junior defenseman Jake Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum handed it off to junior forward Cole Koepke, who flew through the neutral zone and into the Broncos zone before whipping a back-hander on net that snuck through Aslanidis' pads with 2:00 to go in the game.

"They came out hard and they had a plan and they executed," said Koepke. "That's something that as a group, we need to learn from and realize that we can't be losing battles. Special teams we just have to clean up going into the end of the year. Every team is going to be great and playing at their peak of 5-on-5 and special teams is something that really makes or breaks a win or loss."
 
UMD finished with 23 shots on goal. Senior forward Kobe Roth finished with a team-high six on net. Koepke finished the night with a goal and three shots. Cairns and freshman defenseman Darian Gotz finished the night with two blocked shots each. Cairns and Rosenbaum each finished with an assist.
 
The Bulldogs will have a short turn-around as they come back to AMSOIL Arena to host Colorado College on Thursday, Feb. 18 at 6:00 p.m.