Monthly Archives: October 2010

>#1 Miami cruises past Lake St. 6-2

Oct 30

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photo: Rachel Lewis Photography

October 29, 2010 – Oxford, Ohio

The #1 ranked Miami RedHawks opened an early 5-0 lead en route to a relatively easy 6-2 victory over Lake Superior State at Steve Cady Arena Friday night.

The RedHawks (5-1-1, 3-0 CCHA), who were averaging nearly five goals per game, did not disappoint with the top line of seniors Carter Camper and Andy Miele and sophomore Reilly Smith leading the way with ten points between them. Camper, the nation’s leading scorer, notched his eighth goal of the season and 20th point in just his first seven games while Miele recorded his second straight four-plus point night with a line of 1-3-4. The reigning national player of the week took over possession of second place in the national scoring race (4-12-16) behind his linemate. And, the real benefactor of playing with these two veteran seniors has been Reilly Smith who tallied his sixth goal of the season and now has a line of 6-3-9 in six games. In 44 games last season as a freshman, Smith had eight goals and 20 points. The Dallas Stars draft pick is doing his best to pick up the scoring void left by the graduation of Jarod Palmer and the early departure of Tommy Wingels for the pros.

Playing their first game without shutdown junior defenseman Will Weber, the RedHawks limited the Lakers to just 18 shots on goal as junior Cody Reichard improved his perfect season record to 4-0. Reichard took a shutout into the final period, but a series of Miami penalties provided plenty of chances for LSSU who went 1 of 6 on the powerplay.

Frankly, Miami played a very sloppy third period but it’s evident early when the legs are going, the RedHawks have greatly improved their speed and puck movement over a year ago. They are playing with unmatched confidence and great skill that will help them against small, speedy teams that have typically given them fits. And, when they finally field a complete, healthy team, they should be a joy to watch this season.

At the start of the final period, and after a lengthy discussion, Miami senior captain Carter Camper was issued a five minute major for kneeing at :44. It was Camper’s first career major penalty and led to a Laker goal from Chad Nehring at 2:14.

Sophomore Curtis McKenzie answered quickly for Miami and reestablished the five goal margin at 6:33. For McKenzie, it was his second goal of the season and an absolutely beautiful finish as he accepted a perfect saucer pass from senior Pat Cannone and roofed a backhander over Laker senior goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson.

Miami would take five penalties in the third period and LSSU was able to capitalize late in regulation just after the expiration of another Miami penalty to make it a 6-2 final. The RedHawks must find a way to cut down on penalties which have been a problem over the past several years.

The series with the Lakers concludes tonight at 7pm at Steve Cady Arena in Oxford.

Notes

  • Junior assistant captain Alden Hirschfeld returned to the lineup after missing the last five games due to injury. He picked up where he left off by notching what turned out to be the game-winning goal, his fourth of the season. He now has a line of 4-3-7 in just three games this season.
  • In the aftermath of junior defenseman Will Weber’s neck injury, several Miami players including Carter Camper and Curtis McKenzie wore protective neck guards for perhaps the first time during last night’s game. And others, like Andy Miele and Garrett Kennedy, had them on during warm-ups, presumably to try them out.
  • Camper’s early statistics are eye-popping. He leads the nation in goals (8), assists (12 – tied with Miele) and points (20) after seven games and has a +11 rating.
  • The RedHawks have scored at least four goals in all of their victories and have topped six goals four times this season.
  • Miami’s six goals were scored by six different RedHawks.
  • Miami has outscored its opponents 19-3 over the past three games.
  • The win was Miami’s seventh straight over the Lakers (2-4-1, 0-3 CCHA).

Coverage links

MURedHawks.com

Cincinnati Enquirer

Dayton Daily News

LSSULakers.com

Posted in Andy Miele, Carter Camper, College Hockey - Analysis, Miami RedHawks, Reilly Smith

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>The Week That Was/The Week That Is

Oct 29

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photo: Rachel Lewis Photography

Oct. 29, 2010 – Oxford, Ohio

The Week That Was

Coming off two consecutive weekends of non-conference action against top ten opponents, Miami opened the defense of their CCHA championship by sweeping winless Northern Michigan by a combined score of 13-1.

In doing so, junior netminder Cody Reichard registered his first shutout of the season blanking the Wildcats 4-0 on Friday night. The shutout was the eighth of Reichard’s career leaving him four behind school leader David Burleigh’s twelve. Reichard also improved his season record to 3-0 with a 2.14 goals against average and .910 save percentage.

However, the real stories of the weekend occurred on Saturday when the RedHawks trounced NMU 9-1.

  • Sophomore Reilly Smith recorded the first hat trick of his career.
  • Seniors Carter Camper and Andy Miele combined for ten points on the evening.
  • For his weekend efforts, Miele (2-7-9) was named national player of the week by Inside College Hockey and the CCHA’s Offensive Player of the Week. In doing so, Miami has claimed the first three weekly offensive awards from the league (Hirschfeld, Camper).
  • Junior Trent Vogelhuber had a nice night scoring his first two goals of the season. The second of which came on a nice wrister to the top shelf.
  • Seniors Pat Cannone (101) and Andy Miele (100) became members of Miami’s 100-point club.
  • Junior goaltender Connor Knapp made 15 saves to earn his first victory of the season evening his record at 1-1-1.

If those accomplishments weren’t enough, the weekend sweep also vaulted the RedHawks back atop both major college hockey polls. Miami is once again the #1 team in the nation and has been for 28 of the past 75 weeks. Since the beginning of last season, Miami has been ranked in the nation’s top four throughout both campaigns.

Then, there was also a “minor” story involving junior defenseman, Will Weber. Weber was injured near the end of the first period when an inadvertent skate blade from Northern Michigan’s senior captain Phil Fox caught him under his cage resulting in a laceration running from beneath his left ear to his chin. The game was stopped with 2:59 remaining in the period to clean blood off the ice from Weber’s injury. The teams went to their respective locker rooms and played the remainder of the first period before changing ends to begin the second period.

Weber, who needed 100 stitches and 15 staples to close the wound was seen back at Goggin Ice Center as soon as Tuesday and Justin Vaive provided us with this look at the injury.

From all accounts it appears Weber will make a full recovery and rejoin the RedHawks sometime in the coming weeks or months. If I had to guess, I’d say we’ll see Weber back after the holiday break, but perhaps sooner.

The Week That Is

Tonight, the #1 Miami RedHawks (4-1-1, 2-0 CCHA) focus their attention back to the ice and take on the Lake Superior State Lakers in a two-game series at Steve Cady Arena in Oxford.

Last season Miami swept the Lakers in Oxford by scores of 2-0 and 10-4. As you may recall, that series was marred by the untimely death of former student manager Brendan Burke on Friday night. And, on Saturday, the RedHawks played with a major burst of emotion overwhelming the Lakers en route to the lopsided victory.

Miami enters the game with the nation’s leading scorer, Carter Camper (7-10-17) propelling an offense that is generating 4.83 goals per game (3rd NCAA) while the Lakers are scoring just 3.17 per night while surrendering 4.17 goals per contest.

Last weekend, the Lakers (2-3-1, 0-2 CCHA) secured their first victories of the season by sweeping Colgate at Taffy Abel Arena in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. LSSU is led offensively by sophomore forward Domenic Monardo (3-3-6), senior forward Rick Schofield (3-5-8) and sophomore defenseman Zach Trotman (3-3-6). In net, the Lakers will be carried by senior Brian Mahoney-Wilson and freshman Kevin Kapalka.

The Lakers are 0-2 away from the Soo.

Posted in Andy Miele, Carter Camper, College Hockey - Analysis, Miami RedHawks

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>RedHawks Knock off St. Cloud 6-3

Oct 15

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Camper’s two goals lead #4 Miami over #11 St. Cloud State

St. Cloud, Minn. – Senior captain Carter Camper tallied on the powerplay and added a shorthanded goal to lead #4 Miami to a 6-3 victory over #11 St. Cloud State.

After surrendering an early first period goal, Miami would recover on the strength of two powerplay goals by senior Andy Miele and sophomore Curtis McKenzie to lead 2-1 after one period. The RedHawks were able to withstand early energy from the Huskies who were playing their home opener after splitting a pair at the Maverick Stampede last weekend in Omaha, Neb. On Friday the Huskies defeated Frozen Four upstart RIT 3-1, but fell to Clarkson 6-2 in Saturday’s finale.

The RedHawks rebounded nicely from a subpar outing last Saturday night against then #10 New Hampshire when they surrendered five second period goals en route to a 6-3 loss at Steve Cady Arena. Though they were outplayed in the first period of tonight’s game, they found themselves ahead 2-1 after one period despite a 12-5 SOG disadvantage.

Miami took control of the game in the second period on the strength of Camper’s powerplay marker and freshman Bryon Paulazzo’s first career goal taking a 4-1 lead into the final period. The RedHawks imposed their will in the second period carrying the play and reversing the SOG deficit by outshooting the Huskies 14-4 in the period.

The Hawks put the game out of reach in the third on goals by Camper and sophomore Reilly Smith, but took five penalties in the frame allowing two Husky powerplay goals during garbage time. Miami needs to clean up their play in order to finish off St. Cloud tomorrow night in the series finale (8pm EST).

Junior netminder Cody Reichard made 21 saves and recorded his second win of the season to run his record to 2-0. For the game, Miami outshot the Huskies 31-24. St. Cloud was 2-7 on the powerplay while Miami converted three of six opportunities with the man advantage.

Notes
– Junior assistant captain Alden Hirschfeld, the reigning CCHA offensive player of the week, did not play this evening and apparently did not make the trip to St. Cloud.
– Camper has five goals already this season in just three games.
– Miami is now 8-1-1 all-time against St. Cloud State.
– The Huskies are coached by former Miami assistant Bob Motzko, a George Gwozdecky disciple. Motzko actually mentored current Miami head coach Enrico Blasi when he was a player for the then Miami Redskins.
– Sophomore defenseman Joe Hartman is making a homecoming this weekend. Hartman is originally from St. Cloud, Minn.
– Curiously, each of Miami’s three games has finished with identical 6-3 scores.

Posted in Carter Camper, CCHA, College Hockey - Analysis, Miami RedHawks, St. Cloud State Huskies

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