Miami has won just one conference game in 2023-24 heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
Fortunately (maybe?) for the RedHawks, its final league opponent — Western Michigan — is the one team against which MU recorded an NCHC victory.
VFTG takes a look at the upcoming series:
WHO: Miami RedHawks (7-22-3, 1-19-2 NCHC) at No. 15 Western Michigan Broncos (18-13-1, 9-13 NCHC).
WHERE: Lawson Arena (3,667), Kalamazoo, Mich.
WHEN: Friday — 7 p.m.; Saturday — 6 p.m.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Western Michigan leads, 82-71-13.
MIAMI RADIO: Both nights — WKBV-AM (1490), Richmond, Ind.
WESTERN MICHIGAN RADIO: Both nights — WVFM-FM (106.5), Kalamazoo, Mich.
STREAMING: NCHC.tv ($).
NOTES: Western Michigan was one of the hottest teams in Division I when it visited Oxford in mid-January.
The Broncos won the opener but lost the finale on Jan. 13 and hasn’t been the same team the past seven weeks.
The Game 1 victory at Cady Arena was WMU’s 11th in 12 games, but the Broncos are 4-9 since, including Miami’s win in the finale the next night.
The Broncos’ potent offense has been stymied recently, as they have scored just three goals in their last three games.
Western Michigan has also struggled in one-goal games down the stretch, dropping four straight before edging St. Cloud State on Feb. 23, with three of those losses coming in overtime.
But when WMU wins, it wins big. Five of its last six victories have been by three or more goals, and somehow the Broncos have managed to hang seven on Denver twice this season.
Dylan Wendt has come out of nowhere to score 21 goals — third-most in the conference and tied for ninth in the NCAA — after netting nine his first two seasons combined.
Luke Grainger leads the team with 42 points, including 30 assists, tied for ninth-best in Division I.
Sam Colangelo has thrived since transferring from Northeastern, netting 19 goals including six on the power play.
Cameron Rowe has still logged every minute in net this season for Western Michigan and boasts a 2.35 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.
Two former RedHawks play for the Broncos — Joey Cassetti (6-8-14) and goalie Kirk Laursen (0 minutes).
In the second season of the NCHC, 2014-15, Colorado College set the all-time mark for the worst league record and fewest points, going 2-19-3 and earning just 10 points in conference play.
Miami enters this series 1-19-2 with seven NCHC points.
The RedHawks are also tied for their fifth-longest winless streak in team history at 12 games (0-10-2).
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