There is no shortage of theatrics in the rematch the next night.  With Borgstrom and Terry leading the way, the Pioneers go out to an early lead.  They score a back-breaker with just :07 left in the first period, then add to their lead early in the second, making it 3-0.

Allison scores a pair of goals late in the period separated by just 1:13 with DiPietro picking up a helper on the second tally that gets the Broncos within a goal.

Denver scores again 7:48 into the third period to give themselves a 4-2 lead, but WMU responds with five straight goals.

With the Broncos down by two, and needing to generate some offense, DiPietro goes right down the center of the ice and attacks a group of three defenders just inside the UD blueline.  He uses his speed to back them off and then, as they converge, slides the puck over to Conrad who buries it.

That goal sparked a binge of three goals in 43 seconds and led to a 7-4 WMU win.

All in all, it was a huge weekend not only for DiPietro (2-3-5 in 2 GP), but for Western Michigan.  They passed a significant early-season test with flying colors, emerging with a 2-0-0 start in league play and a #8 ranking nationally in the PairWise, but the grueling season is just getting started.

WATCHING AND WAITING (AND WORKING OUT)

DiPietro played a single game last year – his collegiate debut on October 14 against Bowling Green in the second week of the season.  He picked up his first point that night, an assist, in a 4-4 tie.

But the Broncos were an older team.  They were ranked in the Top 10 nationally and had aspirations of making a run in the NCAA tournament.  Ice time was going to be sparse for a freshman like Dawson.

Murray made the decision to have DiPietro sit out the season, save a year of eligibility, and enter the lineup when there was more ice time available.

“He thought he had earned more ice time with the way he played that first game and the way things were going in practice,” said David.  “He was disappointed.”   

Getting a taste of the college game, picking up a point, then being told he was going to sit out the season, was tough.

“My redshirt year was difficult for me,” Dawson said.  “Especially when I saw other players on opposing teams that I had previously played with having success.”

But the extra time – in practice, in the weight room, and in the classroom – has paid off.

"We had other players playing ahead of him last year,” Murray said.  “We thought it could be a year where he could focus on our game and getting physically stronger, and that's what he did."

Western Michigan saw things they liked when they scouted DiPietro playing junior hockey with the Janesville Jets – one of four teams he would play for in his two-year junior hockey journey – but also knew he needed some extra development time to become the best player he could be.

"When we say Dawson play with Janesville, we liked his work ethic, his puck pursuit and his speed,” said Murray.  “He played with a lot of energy but we knew he needed to get physically stronger and that's what his freshman year was all about."

“There is no doubt that I am a different player mentally and physically than I was last year,” Dawson said.  “I used my redshirt year to my advantage and worked hard every day in practice against the players that made up a top-5 team in the country. I gained 15 pounds in the offseason and in doing so I have given myself the opportunity to have success in the NCHC, the toughest league in college hockey.”

DiPietro started the 2017-18 season in the lineup but this time, he stayed in.  He has kept up the production as well, collecting a pair of assists in the season opener, a 6-1 win over Ferris State, then really breaking out in a two-game series against Clarkson October 13-14, firing 15 shots on goal and scoring three times.  He scored both Broncos goals in a 2-2 tie in the first game. 

He keeps the puck from his first NCAA goal in his stall for good luck.

THE PATH BEGAN IN NORTHEAST OHIO

Western Michigan is just the latest step up the hockey ladder for DiPietro as he applies the skills he developed in Northeast Ohio with various youth hockey programs, three seasons of high school hockey, and with Team Ohio.

Dawson’s path to an NCAA scholarship did not start in junior hockey, or even with a AAA program, it started back at Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls, where he played three seasons for head coach Pat McKendry.

“When I made the decision to attend Walsh, Coach McKendry was one of the largest reasons,” DiPietro said. “He recognized my talent and offensive creativity, yet knew he has some work to do in other areas of my game.”

DiPietro played three seasons of OHSAA hockey, making the varsity as a freshman and quickly becoming a go-to option for McKendry.

"Dawson is naturally gifted like most great athletes,” said McKendry.  “He has speed, high-level skill, and a great awareness of the game that was evident from the first time I saw him play.”

In just three seasons at Walsh he became the Warriors’ all-time leader in goals (80) and points (168).  Those marks still stand (and the next seven players on the list behind him played all four years).  He also boasted a career plus/minus of +62.

But it was not just his natural skill with the puck that propelled him to success on the ice.

“The key word is ability,” McKendry said.  “You have to have the ability on the ice, but as we all know, and Dawson will tell you for a fact, it takes a whole lot more than just ability.  Not many are as naturally gifted as Dawson, but he had to learn through the years on how to become a complete person and athlete to be as elite as he is today."

In addition to playing for the Warriors during the high school season, DiPietro put up staggering numbers as a 17-year-old with the Team Ohio AA split-season program, scoring 66 goals and adding 67 assists for 133 points in just 47 games for head coach Patrick Metzger.

Dawson says he began to hit his stride with Team Ohio, growing into his body and putting on some weight. 

“His biggest improvement that season was on how to play in both ends of the ice,” said Metzger.  “Dawson loved flying the zone and taking the stretch pass.  Had a rough time in the ‘D zone’ but, man, when he would come out low of hash with his speed no one could catch him.”

COACH WANTS TO SEE YOU...

Dawson played most of the 2014-15 season with Coulee Region and reported for training camp as a 19-year-old veteran in the fall of 2015 ready to take on a larger role.

Chill management had other plans, however, and told Dawson he was going to be traded.

“It was a tough time,” David said of his son’s first experience of being traded.  “He actually came home for a week or two as they tried to sort it out.”

Dawson was finally dealt to the Austin (MN) Bruins.  The Bruins were in first place at Christmas, and DiPietro was leading the team in scoring, so it seemed to be working out.  Then, out of nowhere, he was told that he was being traded again.  Such is life in junior hockey.  Dawson described it at the time as his “lowest point in life”.

“I considered quitting hockey,” he admitted.  “That was something that had never crossed my mind in my life.”

Nevertheless, knowing there was a team that wanted him, he drove 274 miles to join the Janesville Jets.  Jets owner Bill McCoshen would later tell the elder DiPietro it was the best trade he ever made.

Despite being with his third team in three months, DiPietro was selected to represent the Jets at the NAHL’s Top Prospects Tournament - the league’s annual recruiting smorgasbord in Ann Arbor, MI, where every team in the league converges in one place to perform in front of college and pro scouts.

There, Dawson spoke with a handful of DI teams, including WMU, and two weeks later announced his commitment to Murray and the Broncos.

“I do believe that everything happens for a reason,” DiPietro said, referring to his two-year junior hockey experience.  “And I can now say that I took the road more traveled… literally.”

WATCH THAT LAST STEP…

That last step, from the NAHL into the NCAA – the top level of amateur hockey in the U. S. – can be a doozy.  Many players have struggled adjusting to the college game, especially with a team that plays such a competitive schedule.  But DiPietro was prepared, and has passed the tests with flying colors so far. 

“Every level that I have moved up has surprisingly been the same type of adjustment,” DiPietro said. “Every level gets a little faster, a little more skilled, players get stronger, and you must come into every day with an ‘Everything Matters’ mentality. That is something that Coach Murray has instilled on us as players to ensure that we do not take a shift off.”

Lessons learned playing high school hockey in his native Ohio laid the foundation on which he has been building ever since.

“Coach McKendry instilled values in me that I still carry with me today,” DiPietro said.  “He not only taught me the game, but shaped me into a young adult in high school.  We still talk often and he still advises me about my game of hockey and life in general.  One of Coaches’ biggest quotes is ‘stay humble, keep your head down, and don’t say anything’ I finally learned this as I grew older and applied it to my hockey career, ever since, my success has begun to blossom.”

The Broncos are back in action this Friday and Saturday, playing a two-game set on the road against Minnesota-Duluth.  Those games (and highlights from previous games) can be viewed at www.nchc.tv

--- Scott Harrington, Ohio Hockey Digest