KALAMAZOO - Western Michigan defeated Lake Superior State 3-1 Sunday in Game 3 of their best-of-three Central Collegiate Hockey Association First-Round Playoff Series, and the Broncos will advance to the second round against Michigan.

For the second straight year, LSSU (11-20-8) ended its season in Game 3 of a first-round series. Sunday's if-necessary game at Lawson Arena followed Saturday's three and one-half hour marathon, which ended in a 4-3 double-overtime loss. Last year, the Lakers lost in three games to Bowling Green State. 

WMU's Tyler Ludwig and LSSU's Nathan Perkovich traded power-play goals in the first period. Ludwig scored at 13:10, and Perkovich answered at 17:19, tying it 1-1.

Troy Schwab and Simon Gysbers assisted on Perkovich's goal, which was his 12th goal of the season and 14th career point in the playoffs. Schwab finished his season with a team-leading 32 points, which is the highest single-season point total since Terry Marchant had 39 in 1997-98.

Western Michigan (14-18-7) put the game away with second-period goals by Kyle O'Kane at 3:42 and J.J. Crew at 19:46.

LSSU out-shot the Broncos 11-6 in the third period, but failed to score. WMU goaltender Riley Gill (13-11-3) totaled 29 saves, while Laker goalie Pat Inglis had 25. Both teams were 1-for-3 on the power play.

Other CCHA Playoff second-round pairings include Nebraska-Omaha at Notre Dame, Northern Michigan at Miami and Ohio State at Alaska.

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