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KALAMAZOO, Mich. - After an entertaining back and forth first two periods, Western Michigan scored three goals in the third period to send the Miami hockey team to a 6-3 loss on Friday night.

The result is the first time this year that the RedHawks (3-3-2, 0-1-0 National Collegiate Hockey) have lost consecutive games this season as they fall to .500 overall following their NCHC opener.

"I thought the better team won tonight," head coach Enrico Blasi said. "Western Michigan made plays and out worked us."

The Broncos (4-2-1, 1-2 NCHC) got on the board at the 8:36 mark when some sustained pressure wore down the RedHawks. The puck worked to the right point for a shot by Taylor Fleming that Jade McMullen redirected in to make it 1-0. Continuing his hot streak, Anthony Louis answered just 1:04 later with his sixth goal of the season after Josh Melnick dug the puck out from the boards beneath the goal line and onto Louis' stick. The senior forward snuck a shot through Trevor Gorsuch's pads, marking his fifth-straight game with a goal and extending his point streak to six. Grant Frederic also earned an assist on the tying goal.

Miami was forced to kill a Western Michigan power play with 7:18 left and did so without trouble, not even allowing a shot. The score remained deadlocked at 1-1 at intermission with WMU holding a slim 8-7 edge in shots.

Corey Schueneman gave WMU a 2-1 lead just 1:56 into the second period on a transition shot where he beat Ryan Larkin up high from the left circle. The RedHawks were able to counter thanks to a couple of power plays as Louis found a soft spot in the high slot and wristed a shot through traffic to tie it up with just 4:20 gone by in the middle stanza with Kiefer Sherwood and Carson Meyer assisting. That trio put the RedHawks on top 3-2 with 13:26 to go in the second as Louis fired a shot that was blocked, but the rebound came to the left circle to Sherwood where he one-timed a shot in for his third tally of the year. That lead lasted 2:05 as the Broncos converted a power play of their own with Frederik Tiffels tying the score at the 8:39 mark, which is where the score was after two periods of play.

Western Michigan fired 12 of the first 13 shots on goal and hemmed Miami in its zone for large stretches of the third period. Paul Stoykewych snapped the 3-3 tie when he flung a puck from behind the net off a Miami player and in with 15:33 remaining in regulation. Mattheson Iacopelli then added two more goals of his own at the 14:02 and 16:45 marks to put the game away.

The Broncos outshot the RedHawks 41-20 on the night with both Miami (2-for-3) and Western Michigan (2-for-6) netting a pair of power play goals. Larkin stopped 35 shots while Gorsuch turned aside 17 Miami shots. Louis tied a career high with two goals and three points while both Sherwood (1g, 1a) and Meyer (2a) had multi-point nights.

These teams finish up the weekend series at Lawson Ice Arena on Saturday night. Puck drops at 7 p.m.