Vince Bellissimo showed Saturday that he has more than just a scorer’s touch, being highly involved in a hard-hitting battle which resulted in a 4-1 victory for Western Michigan over the Purple Eagles of Niagara. <\/p>\n
Rough play seemed to be the theme for a game packed with hard hits, not to mention a rare college hockey occurrence. <\/p>\n
At 3:20 of the third period, Bellissimo finally had enough of Niagara forward Jason Williamson when the two squared off and put on the foil, resulting in a disqualification with suspensions presumably to follow. <\/p>\n
Bellissimo had his feelings towards what went on with Williamson. <\/p>\n
“Sometimes in hockey these things happen. Their guy came up to me, asked me to fight and I decided it would be a good idea.” <\/p>\n
Niagara goaltender Allen Barton was tested early with heavy pressure from the Broncos offense during the beginning of the first period <\/p>\n
A costly penalty was taken by Niagara’s Kris Wiebe. At 12:41 in the first the CCHA’s leading scorer, Brent Walton, put home his ninth goal of the season with a twisting wrister from the right faceoff dot, giving the Broncos a 1-0 lead. <\/p>\n
Walton has been on a fast pace this season at almost two goals a game. <\/p>\n
“My teammates have been finding me and the puck seems to be going in right now, I don’t know what else to say; it’s just happening.” <\/p>\n
Although Niagara started the second period off on the power play, it failed to help as the Broncos tallied a shorthanded goal at 6:39. <\/p>\n
Center Paul Szczechura stepped up at the far blue line to intercept a Niagara clearing attempt, creating a 2-on-1 opportunity. He found freshman Brian Bicek for one of his two goals on the night, beating Barton high over the glove. <\/p>\n
Szczechura wasn’t done. At 8:31 in the second, he showed great patience as he took the puck from a Niagara defenseman and evaded Barton over the glove again. <\/p>\n
Physical play started to show as Andrew Dwyer and captain Pat Dwyer (no relation) were sent to the box seconds apart, giving the Purple Eagles a solid 5-on-3 and a chance to get back in the game. <\/p>\n
That put pressure on Bronco goalie Daniel Bellissimo, although he didn’t seemed to be fazed as he put up another strong night by recording 42 saves.<\/p>\n
The Broncos were outshot for the game by a big margin of 43-24, despite a solid victory. <\/p>\n
The power play was a problem for the Purple Eagles throughout the series, going 0-7 Saturday and a combined 1-15 for the weekend. From then on Niagara showed little sign of a comeback as Western kept putting points on the board. <\/p>\n
Pat Dwyer recorded his fifth assist on the season with a smart play, throwing the puck to the front of the net and finding an untouched Bicek for his second goal of the game. That goal put Western Michigan up 4-0 and caused a goalie change, giving freshman Scott Mollison a chance between the pipes. <\/p>\n
It wasn’t all bad news for Niagara, which returns home for the first time since October 8. <\/p>\n
Niagara coach Dave Burkholder felt his team put in a full effort on the lengthy road trip. <\/p>\n
“This was one of the grittiest, gutsiest efforts from a Niagara team in years. I don’t care about the scoreboard; we battled to the end, I’m very happy with the guys in the locker room — they never quit.” <\/p>\n
Niagara (3-6-0) will head home to face off against the Quinnipiac Bobcats as the Broncos (4-4-0) face a tough challenge with Notre Dame at Lawson Arena Friday night. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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