Western Michigan's Sweep Over Notre Dame Showed What Makes them Elite

Western Michigan made a statement against Notre Dame this weekend, dominating the Fighting Irish with a weekend sweep. The Broncos opened the series with a 6-1 win before completing the sweep with a 4-0 shutout in Game Two. Their offensive depth was elite throughout, with multiple players adding to the scoresheet in both games, while goaltender Quentin Miller was a rock in net. Allowing just one goal over the weekend, Western Michigan showed it could control games at both ends of the ice, but how?

They opened the first game with a goal 19 seconds into the game, when the Broncos made a swift zone exit and turned it into a forecheck, with their F1 applying pressure to the Notre Dame defenseman, who was able to block a pass, and the supporting forward, Cole Spicerdrove, drove the lane and made a play in space to open the scoring

They did a great job on solo entries where they would delay and pass to one of the trailing forwards who had speed and space, limiting killed possessions and instead turning them into clean entries where they either attacked or set up an offensive zone possession. 

Their puck management was very elite in the offensive zone, where they were able to tire the opposing defenders and punish them with chances from everywhere. 

Defensively, they stayed composed, and all five players were constantly in passing lanes and denying east-to-west chances, which allowed them to force turnovers and get up the ice easily for their offense to take over. 

Freshman Adam Benak showed his elite offensive traits with two goals and one assist across the two games, and you could see some of the things that scouts loved going into his draft year. Benak was also named the NCHC rookie of the week after this performance, making it his second this season.

They controlled play, stayed strong on defense, and played a near-perfect weekend. The Broncos are a team that should be on the lookout for another championship run.