More Semifinal Disappointment for North Dakota
by Lincoln Retzlaff/CHN Reporter
SAINT PAUL, Minn. Alex Bump has apparently not risen high enough on everyone’s radar nationally to earn Hobey Baker Award consideration. But you watch Western Michigan night in and night out — a team that won the NCHC regular-season title and is playing for a tournament championship Saturday — and you see a player who consistently dominates.
So it was more than a bit scary when Bump went flying into the end boards while hustling back to break up a North Dakota rush. He came racing off the ice holding his hand, and headed towards the locker room.
“I didn’t take a breath for a while,” WMU coach Pat Ferschweiler said. “I don’t think anyone on our team did.”
Within moments, however, he was back, and went back to controlling the game.
“He looked at me — if you know Alex Bump, he’s as good a kid as there is, he’s always wearing a smile,” Ferschweiler said. “And he just smiled down the bench and said, ‘I’m good coach.’ Obviously I started breathing again and so did the rest of the suqad.”
The end result of that was a 4-2 win over North Dakota, a team fighting for its season. North Dakota, finally mostly healthy, has been better lately, and gave the Broncos all they could handle. But in the end, Western showed why it’s been the NCHC’s top team all year.
Bump scored the game’s first goal, his 21st of the season, before getting hurt later on. He wound up with 11 shots on net, an absurd amount if not for the fact that it’s routine for Bump. He leads the nation — by far — with 213. The next most is Ryan Leonard’s 181.
“I thought he was the best player on the ice. He was dominant at times,” Ferschweiler said. “His importance is immeasurable, his play is dynamic, and he’s such a quality young man.”
Although Bump was putting on his shooting clinic, North Dakota was right there the whole way, and responded quickly to his goal. Sacha Boisvert, the NCHC Freshman of the Year, scored on the power play with 1:43 left in the first period, evening the score at 1-1 heading into the first intermission.
Western Michigan controlled most of the second period, outshooting UND 18-10, but the score remained tied at 1-1.
“I didn’t think we were great in the first period,” Ferschweiler…
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