Tim Washe did not have to stretch his imagination one bit.
The Western Michigan senior captain simply closed his eyes on Saturday might and felt a huge friendly vibe coming from stands.
鈥淚t was like a home game,鈥 Washe said.
Yes, the town of Kalamazoo, Michigan, migrated 417 miles south to 蜜芽传媒 over the past three days.
And the large throng was rewarded with a pair of wins and an NCAA national hockey championship.
Western Michigan University, with a home-ice-like advantage, knocked off Boston University 6-2 in the NCAA Frozen Four title game Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd 16,953 at Enterprise Center.
The Broncos (34-7-1) became just the fourth team to win the crown in their first Frozen Four appearance 鈥 not counting the initial tournament, in 1948.
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Lake Superior State (1988), Cornell (1967) and Denver (1958) also turned the trick.
The Michigan city of over 72,000 showed out en masse and turned downtown 蜜芽传媒 into Kalamazoo South.
The few Boston U. fans could barely be heard over the loud and rowdy Michiganders.
鈥淭he support is phenomenal, you can鈥檛 ask for better fans,鈥 Washe said.
Added freshman goalie Hampton Slukynsky, 鈥淚t was rocking when we lined up before the game.鈥
Western Michigan, with its cheerleaders, band and wild fans leading the way, looked at home. The support group, known as the Lawson Lunatics after their home Lawson Ice Arena, was out in full throat.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e the best, I love playing in front of them,鈥 said Owen Michaels, who scored twice on Saturday and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. 鈥淭hey bring the energy and mojo each and every night.鈥
The Broncos certainly responded in kind.
They knocked off defending champion Denver 3-2 in a double overtime thriller in a semifinal contest Thursday. Western Michigan then parlayed that momentum into a near-perfect effort in the title game.
鈥淲e said at the start of the year we were special, and we wanted to prove that,鈥 Washe said. 鈥淲e did it every day by focusing on each day at a time, getting better every day. It came down to belief.鈥
Michaels, whose OT goal sent the Broncos into the final, played the hero role once again providing a key cushion goal on a blast off a two-on-one break with 12:44 left in the third period for a 4-2 lead. He also added an empty-net tally with 2:07 left.
鈥淏iggest stage, the big players show up,鈥 Washe said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what he did, he came up huge for us this weekend.鈥
Western Michigan never trailed in the championship game and scored three times in the final 12:44 to break open a one-goal game.
鈥淚 want to say how proud I am of this team,鈥 Western Michigan coach Pat Ferschweiler said. 鈥淭hey stuck together and believed in themselves from start to finish, not only in the season but in this game.鈥
The Broncos took the lead for good 2-1 on a goal by defenseman Cole Crusberg-Roseen late in the opening period. He picked off a clearing attempt and whistled a high shot from the top of the faceoff circle. It was his third goal of the season. With 14 letters in his last name, he became the player with the longest name to score in a national championship contest.
The Broncos, who won their last 10 games, pushed the lead to 3-1 early in the second period when Ty Henricks converted on a rebound of a shot by Cam Knuble.
Michaels then started the three-goal barrage that put the game away.
Cole Eiserman and Shane Lachance scored for Boston U. Lachance jumped on a loose puck in the crease and tipped it behind Slukynsky with 9:18 left in the second period to close the gap to 3-2.
Western Michigan senior Wyatt Schingoethe got the scoring started with his fifth goal of the season just 98 seconds into the contest. That goal allowed the wild crowd to erupt and it was never silent the rest of the way.
鈥淚t was as electric of an environment in recent memory for a championship game,鈥 said Dave Fischer, the senior director of communications for USA hockey.
Boston U. (24-14-2) was coming off a 3-1 win over Penn State in a semifinal contest Thursday.
鈥淭hey got a few more breaks and finished a couple more plays than we did,鈥 Boston U. coach Jay Pandolfo said. 鈥淭his is tough to swallow.鈥
Added Lachance, 鈥淵ou dream of winning a national championship. It (hurts) that we came up short.鈥
