After the best season in program history and winning its first-ever NCAA tournament game, Western Michigan was immediately met with the task of remaking the team.

Cameron Rowe, who had toiled in the Wisconsin goal for two years, was one of six transfers brought in to help make up for the brain drain but the team got probably their biggest contribution from freshman Ryan McAllister.

The undrafted center immediately gelled with team captain Jason Polin and the two would prove to be one of the top duos in the nation.

Western opened the second half of its season with the Great Lakes Invitational and faced a strong Michigan Tech squad to start.

When they met Denver at the end of the month, Western was in the top 5 and had an outside chance to win the conference title if they could sweep the Pioneers.

[3] The high position gave the team a good match in the conference tournament as WMU played host to Colorado College.

Both teams went on the offensive in the extra session but, to the dismay of the home crowd, CC proved victorious and swept Western out of the conference tournament.

Luckily, the Broncos were high enough in the PairWise to be guaranteed a spot in the tournament and they had a week to try and get over the sudden ineptness of their offense.

However, while the team was celebrating, the referees were reviewing the tape and ended up taking the goal off the board due to goaltender interference.