THE MATCHUP The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs will head to Kalamazoo for a conference series against the Western Michigan Broncos. The teams will match-up for game one on Nov. 18 at 6:07 p.m. CT. Since 2008 when the teams first met, UMD leads the all-time series 26-14-3. Going into the weekend series, UMD has gone 6-6 overall and 2-2 in conference play. The Bulldogs have struggled on the road so far this season, as they have gone 1-3. The last time they were on the road they split the conference series with Colorado College. No. 14 Western Michigan will head into the match-up 8-5 overall and 3-1 in conference play. The Broncos have been successful in their five home games this season. WMU dropped one home game to the University of Michigan 6-5. UMD last faced off with WMU in last season's Frozen Faceoff championship game. The Bulldogs took home the Penrose Cup after they shut out the Broncos in a 3-0 game. During that game, both Dominic James and Wyatt Kaiser recorded unassisted goals. 
LAST TIME OUT UMD came out of last weekend's series against Omaha with two conference points. The Bulldogs dropped Friday's game 3-2, after the Mavericks scored twice in the third for a late come-back win. On Saturday, freshman Ben Steeves scored the first two goals for the Bulldogs. In the third period, Omaha was down by one and pulled their goalie in a last minute effort to tie it up. With an extra man the Mavericks were successful and took UMD to overtime. During OT, Matthew Thiessen passed a loose puck to Quinn Olson who carried the puck the length of the ice, and fired one in the top corner to get the split for UMD. 
A WEEKEND OF FIRSTS During the series against Omaha, four Bulldogs recorded firsts of the season. Jesse Jacques recorded his first goal and first assist of the season during Friday's game. During Friday's game, Tanner Laderoute also notched his first goal of the season. Olson recorded his first goal of the season on the overtime game winning goal on Saturday. Thiessen's assist on the OT goal was his first point of the season and just second of his career. 
THIESSEN AT THE TOP Senior Matthew Thiessen has now seen action in seven games. While in the crease, he has made 136 saves, while only allowing 10 goals, four of which were power play goals. Thiessen now has a season save percentage of .932 and goals against average of 1.66. With those numbers, Thiessen is ranked second in the NCHC and eighth in the nation for goals against. He is also ranked second in the conference and 11th nationally for save percentage. 
DYNAMIC DEFENSE Sophomore defenseman Owen Gallatin was awarded the NCHC Defenseman of the Week after last weekend's Omaha series. Gallatin recorded three assists, four blocks, and a +3 plus minus rating on the weekend. With eight points, the defenseman now leads UMD in points. Along with Gallatin's three assists, Derek Daschke also added two more points last weekend with two assists on Friday night. 
STAYING OUT OF THE BOX This weekend against Western it will be crucial for the Bulldogs to stay out of the box. The Broncos, with a .269 power play percentage,  are currently ranked second in the NCHC. WMU has tallied 17 power play goals on the season.  
BRONCOS ON THE PENALTY KILL Western Michigan has killed off a total of 22 penalties in conference play for a percentage of .864. So far this season, the Broncos have only allowed 12 power play goals.  
WMU GOALTENDING The Broncos have played junior Cameron Rowe in all 12 of their games. Rowe has made 252 saves, while allowing 28 goals for a save percentage of .900. The junior goaltender has a goals against average of 2.46, ranking him seventh in the conference. In WMU's win against Notre Dame, Rowe recorded his first shutout of the season in a 4-0 game.
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS Western Michigan is also coming off last weekend with a conference split. The Broncos picked up three conference points Friday after their 4-2 win over St. Cloud. The Huskies bounced back for game two to split after a 4-1 game. Starting off the 2022-23 season, Western has given their opponents a challenge. In 12 games, WMU has scored 53 goals, averaging 4.1 per game. Of the 53 goals, they recorded 17 of them on the power play, two empty nets, and one short-handed. The Broncos leading goal scorer is senior Jason Polin. Polin has scored nine goals, recorded two hat tricks, and tallied eight assists. New to the team this year is rookie Ryan McAllister. McAllister has notched 16 assists and six goals for 22 points. With 22, he is ranked first in the nation for assists per game and second for points per game. 

MOVEMBER MO-BROS The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs will continue their Movember campaign through November. Just halfway through the month, the team has raised half the goal of $5000 for men's health awareness and resources.  

Donate to the Mo-Bros: https://movember.com/t/umd-hockey-mo-bros-2022?mc=1