Owen Michaels had two goals and Ty Henricks scored a game winner in the second period on Saturday night, as Western Michigan beat Boston University 6-2 in the NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey National Championship game before a crowd of 16,953 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the first hockey national title for the Broncos, who were appearing in their first ever Frozen Four.
The Broncos never trailed, getting on the board just 1:38 into the first period. Liro Hakkarainen from the side wall threw it out in front of the net, and Wyatt Schingoethe got a stick on it and deflected it past Terriers goalie Mikhail Yegerov. Boston University evened the score as Cole Eiserman poked home a loose puck at 7:12, before Western Michigan took the lead back for good when Cole Crusberg-Roseen scored at 18:22.
Henricks put in the game winner at 5:18 of the second period to make it 3-1, before Boston University did get it back within a 3-2 deficit after 40 minutes on a marker by Shane Lachance on the powerplay at 10:42. The Terriers had great pressure in the first seven minutes of the final stanza in trying to find the equalizer, and Broncos goalie Hampton Slukynsky had to make the save of the game to keep his team in front sprawling out in his crease after a wild scramble. Michaels scored his first of the night at 7:16 to make it 4-2, before Western Michigan clinched the title with goals at 16:02 and 17:52 by Hakkarainen and Michaels. The tally by Michaels was an empty netter, as the Terriers had pulled Yegerov for an extra attacker.
Cole Hutson, Ryan Greene, Kamil Bednarik, and Devin Kaplan each had an assist in the loss for Boston University. Yegerov made 22 saves, and the Terriers end their season with a record at 24-14-2 as they were seeking their first championship since 2009 and sixth overall. Schingoethe and Hakkarainen each had a goal and an assist for Western Michigan, Tim Washe had two assists, and Michaels had his two goals and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four. Michaels also had two goals in the national semifinal victory over Denver, including the game winner in double overtime. Slukynsky made 24 stops in net, as the Broncos end the season on a 10 game win streak with a final record of 34-7-1. WMU had gone 0-7 in NCAA Tournament games before hiring Pat Ferschweiler in 2021 as their head coach. They are have gone 5-3 since, and will be bringing a trophy back to their campus in Kalamazoo. The only Division I titles in school history prior to Saturday night were both won in men’s cross country in 1964 and 1965.
