It's mostly been a season of small moral victories for Western Michigan so far this season, mainly because there haven't been many real wins to celebrate.
One such small moral victory for the Broncos came on Saturday night in Ann Arbor. Sure, the Broncos lost to Michigan 5-1, thus completing Michigan's sweep. And sure, the Broncos were outscored by a total of 11-2 on the weekend. But there was one stat in Western Michigan's favor. The Broncos had a total of 6 powerplay opportunities on the night, compared to Michigan's four(Though Michigan had 3 powerplay goals to Western's one).
That may not seem that important, but it was for the Broncos, since, in their 22nd game of the season, it was the first game in which Western Michigan had more powerplay opportunities than their opponent. Four times this season, Western finished a game with an equal number of powerplay opportunities, but in the other 17 games, Western had a powerplay deficit, including their game at Notre Dame on November 16th, when Notre Dame received 11 powerplay opportunities to Western Michigan's 1.
One such small moral victory for the Broncos came on Saturday night in Ann Arbor. Sure, the Broncos lost to Michigan 5-1, thus completing Michigan's sweep. And sure, the Broncos were outscored by a total of 11-2 on the weekend. But there was one stat in Western Michigan's favor. The Broncos had a total of 6 powerplay opportunities on the night, compared to Michigan's four(Though Michigan had 3 powerplay goals to Western's one).
That may not seem that important, but it was for the Broncos, since, in their 22nd game of the season, it was the first game in which Western Michigan had more powerplay opportunities than their opponent. Four times this season, Western finished a game with an equal number of powerplay opportunities, but in the other 17 games, Western had a powerplay deficit, including their game at Notre Dame on November 16th, when Notre Dame received 11 powerplay opportunities to Western Michigan's 1.