KALAMAZOO, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Western Michigan shocked the NCAA hockey world by winning its first-ever Frozen Four on Saturday night. The Broncos upended the long-time, storied Boston University, 6-2, staking its claim as the best hockey program.

“I’m so proud of this team. They believed in themselves from start to finish. They cared about each other all year. I couldn’t be more proud of them,” said head coach Pat Ferschweiler.

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WMU became the fourth program since 1948 to win a national championship in their Frozen Four debut. The others were Denver (1958), Cornell (1967), and Lake Superior State (1988).

Owen Michaels, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, collected two of the game’s final three goals for the four-goal lead. Up by one, 3-2, he put WMU up by two goals at 7:16. Iiro Hakkarainen added another insurance goal at 16:02 for a 5-2 score. Owens had an empty net goal at 17:52 to finish off Boston, 6-2.

The win gave WMU 10 straight victories. Their last loss was to North Dakota, 4-3, in overtime on March 1.

Michaels said about the final goal, “The goal was not about me; it was about this team, and this group, and doing something we’ve never done before.”

WMU became the third Michigan team to win a national championship in St. Louis, following Michigan State in 2007 and Michigan Tech in 1975. They finished their year at 34-7-1.