Williams finally in the spotlight
OXFORD, Ohio – Jay Williams’ career at Miami already had to be considered a successful one through his first three seasons.
He played a major role in the RedHawks’ regular season championship in the final year of the CCHA his freshman campaign, and he led Miami to an NCHC Tournament title in 2014-15.
But Williams allowed seven goals vs. Providence in this season’s opener before being pulled in the third period, miring him with an 8.70 goals-against average, and he saw action in just two more games the next three months.
As a result, Williams used Christmas break to reevaluate his priorities.
“It was certainly frustrating,” Williams said. “I think that Christmas break came at a really good time for me personally this year just to kind of get away from it and to get home and spend some time with my family. I had the approach that was going to come (back) and regardless of what happened with playing – I figured my hockey career will be over after this year anyway, and I’ll move on – so if I have three months left of doing this with a group of guys that I love, I’m just going to enjoy every day and try to get better and try to make the most of it because you don’t get these days back.”
Due to an on-ice blow up and subsequent suspension of senior goalie Ryan McKay – who played nearly every minute of the first half this season – Williams was relegated into full-time starter mode and has been in net for all but 39 minutes since.
And Miami and Williams have thrived with him between the pipes.
Despite being swept by Minnesota-Duluth last weekend, Miami is 9-5 in its last 14 games as it recovered from a 5-10-1 start, and in the team’s final home series of this regular season, Williams became the first goalie in RedHawks history to shut a team out in a two-game weekend series.
“Jay’s our guy – he’s been playing awesome,” senior forward and captain Sean Kuraly said. “We expect a lot from Jay. He’s good in practice, he’s a highly-touted kid, and just a really good teammate is a reason why the team is doing well.”
Williams is from McLean, Va., right across the border from Washington D.C. The mid-Atlantic region is not known for producing significant hockey talent, but Williams went to a Washington Capitals game on his eighth birthday and has been a rink rat since.
“I was hooked,” Williams said. “The next day, I found an old pair of rollerblades and a make-shift stick and a crushed Coke can and kind of never looked back from there.”
Williams said as badly as he wanted to play hockey, his mother, Rosie, made him take skating lessons for a year before playing competitively.
“She was like, you’re not playing hockey until you learn how to skate,” Williams said. “At the time I was miserable, but obviously looking back on it I feel like it’s something that’s helped me.”
Soon after he started playing, Williams said he was given a book on goaltending and he was fascinated with the equipment. But he had to sell his parents on the concept.
Finally they caved.
With goalie pads being pricey and kids growing out of their equipment on an annual basis, his parents wanted to trade in his first set for bigger pads, but Williams wouldn’t let them.
He told them that they would end up in the hockey Hall of Fame.
“I was dreaming big when I was nine years old – I had high aspirations,” Williams said. “I think they’re still somewhere (around the house). I don’t think they’ll going to quite make it to the Hall of Fame, but there will definitely be some sentimental value there. They’ll definitely be something that I keep around for the rest of my life.”
In 2009, Williams was 15 and had never attended a collegiate game.
His first one? Miami’s NCAA national championship game at the nearby Verizon Center, during which the RedHawks surrendered two goals in the final minute and another in overtime to lose, 4-3 in ultra-dramatic fashion.
And yet Williams still ultimately chose Oxford.
“For whatever reason, I was really pulling for them there, and the following summer I was in a goalie camp with Cody Reichard and Connor Knapp, and I got to skate with them and be with them,” Williams said. “And then the USA Hockey camp with Trags (assistant coach Nick Petraglia). It was the first visit I came on and I kind of fell in love right away, and I felt a strong connection and a bond. Everywhere else I went I was kind of comparing it to here. They offered and I knew right away this is where I wanted to go – I’m just fortunate that it worked out.”
His juniors experience was turbulent. Selected third overall in the USHL Futures draft at age 15, Williams went 7-10-2 with a mercurial 3.49 goals-against average and an .891 save percentage with Waterloo his first season.
In 2011-12 he was 11-5-4, 2.62 and .904 but was traded to last-place Sioux Falls at the deadline. He finished 2-8-2, 3.78 and .882 in 12 games there.
“Looking back on it, it’s certainly not how you would’ve wanted it to go, it wasn’t ideal,” Williams said. “First year, kind of up and down, adjusting, and then my second year started out great and kind of fizzled. Sioux Falls, who at the time were in last place, (was) a team that wasn’t in a great spot and a lot of guys had kind of packed it in. You learn from it all and I believe everything happens for a reason, and I guess I wouldn’t change anything.”
Jay Williams as a freshman (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
Senior forward Alex Gacek knew Williams from when the two played in New England prep schools, and along with senior defenseman Matthew Caito, the trio immediately bonded upon arriving in Oxford.
“Both of those guys have made my transition here real easy,” Gacek said. “I talked about how nervous I was coming in, and they really softened everything up and helped me mature as well.”
Gacek and Williams also shared a not-so-memorable juniors experience. Gacek was thriving before blowing his knee out, and then he was rushed back, stunting his recovery.
“We were in kind of similar situations coming into school,” Gacek said. “(We) needed help building our confidence and just our mental state. He’s worked really hard at it, and I think now it’s showing up in his play and how he carries himself on and off the ice.”
Williams averaged just 26 games and logged fewer than 3,000 minutes in two full seasons in the USHL.
Then he headed to Oxford along with McKay, who had won Goalie of the Year with Green Bay his final season in that league as he led his team to a regular season title and a Clark Cup, the USHL’s championship trophy.
Jay Williams as a sophomore (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
The pair rotated the first couple of weeks, but when McKay was injured in a game at Michigan, Williams shifted to a full-time role.
He beat the Wolverines the next night and won five of eight before McKay returned.
Williams and McKay alternated much of the season, and Williams tallied a 12-5-3 record, a 1.94 GAA and .924 save percentage in his rookie campaign.
“(The coaches) always said they want to have two guys that they can depend on, and two guys that can play – they had years where they rotated Connor and Cody up until the Frozen Four,” Williams said. “Certainly (McKay) had won just about everything you can win. He was incredible through juniors – he’s still incredible, he’s the best goalie I’ve ever been on a team with and had the opportunity to work with, day in and day out – but I just kind tried to come in, work hard, keep my head down and when I got the opportunity to play, do the best I can to give my team the chance to win.”
The RedHawks also won the final CCHA regular season title in 2012-13.
“There’s something special about that because it’s such a large body of work that goes into it to win that,” Williams said. “With the group of guys that we had, we kind of had the underdog mentality going in because we had such a large freshman class, and nobody really gave us a chance. To be able to win that championship, win a ring in my first year at school, and feel like I was able to contribute a good amount to it, it was certainly exciting and that group of guys you’ll remember forever, you share that bond.”
Sophomore year was forgettable for Miami overall, including the goalies. Williams recorded a 5-7 record, and his GAA and save percentage reverted to 3.30 and .882, respectively.
“Sophomore year, it was tough,” Williams said. “You learn a lot during those tough years about preparation, and really just the competition from Year 1 to Year 2. No disrespect at all to the teams we played the first year, but the NCHC with six teams in the national tournament, there’s no weekend you can take for granted. There’s so much parity and the margin for error is so, so small. A bad goal, a bad mistake, you used to be able to outscore that, and now you can’t.”
Jay Williams at the outdoor game in 2015 (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
But he was rejuvenated in 2014-15, notching a 19-8 record and allowing just 2.04 goals per game, and his save percentage ended up at .917.
Williams was also in net for the stretch run, including the semifinal and final wins in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, as Miami won its first tournament title in the newly-formed conference.
And his five shutouts that season tied him with Knapp and Reichard for the school’s single-season record.
“Last year, again, was a special year because we were able to win a championship with those guys,” Williams said. “Especially with the senior class that my whole class was close with for three years because they were such a large part of the team. It was cool to send them out like that and to be a part of it.”
This year, Williams is 10-7-1 with a 2.41 GAA, .909 save percentage and a pair of shutouts. But heading into the break, he had a 5.35 goals-against average and a save percentage of just .812 to accompany an 0-2 record.
Since? He’s 10-5-1, 1.97 and .924.
Jay Williams as a junior (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
“You can see now that he’s calm, cool and collected, and now that he’s got his confidence behind him, there’s no doubt that he’s one of the best goalies in the country, and he’s playing like it right now,” Gacek said. “It’s been great to watch. That’s what the big thing about The Brotherhood is, is that you get to see not only yourself grow but everyone else on the team, and Jay’s a perfect example of that.”
Williams will leave Miami with his name etched in several places on the team’s career leaders list. His 46 wins and nine shutouts both tie him for fourth all-time, he is fourth in GAA (2.32) and sixth in save percentage (.910).
“The biggest thing I look at as a goalie is trying to help your team win games and to win championships, and I think to say that you were part of two championship teams in four years is something that not a lot of guys can say,” Williams said. “It’s a testament to the rest of the guys and the coaching staff and the work that we’ve put in throughout the week and the summer and the off-season. If you told me this is where I’d be, I’d be thrilled with that, freshman year.”
But there’s more to Williams than just his statistics. His enthusiasm on the ice rubs off on his teammates, and even when he’s on the bench he’s one of the first to congratulate fellow players.
“I think we embody a little bit of that when he’s in the net,” Kuraly said. “He brings such energy and enthusiasm every day, but especially you can see it on game days. Definitely something the team feeds off of.”
His postgame celebrations are legendary, as he seems to have a secret greeting for each player that meets him in front of the crease after wins.
“Almost everyone on the team has a handshake with him or a little saying that they say, so he’s a spark plug for us, even though he’s a goalie – usually it’s a little different, it’s a (skater) – but Jay’s a great team guy that we need, and our success is really pivoted around him, going forward,” Gacek said.
Off the ice, Williams appears a bit too normal for a goalie, but Gacek can attest that he does possess some of those strange netminder attributes.
Jay Williams as a senior (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
“Jay can be quirky at times, he can be serious at times – whatever the situation calls for, he can adapt to it,” Gacek said. “That’s why I think he’s one of the big favorites in the locker room.
“He’s a character. Jay’s the type of kid that you could go to about anything. If it’s serious or if you need someone to pick you up, he’s the one to do it. He’s a real personable guy and he’s definitely one of my best friends. I love him to death and he’s just a great all-around guy.”
He will also depart Oxford with a degree in finance this spring. Williams was named to the NCHC All-Academic Team last month with a 3.38 GPA.
He will look into playing professionally after this season but is currently focused on enjoying his waning days at Miami.
Whether he goes pro in hockey or the business field after this season, he has set a high bar for the incoming freshmen goalies in 2016-17, both on and off the ice, and Williams has loved every minute he’s spent in Oxford.
“It’s been everything you could ask for in a college experience,” Williams said. “Everywhere you go, recruiting visits, they try to sell the program, sell the experience, sell everything, but to just hear from all of the older guys and all of the alumni who’ve played here how special the four years are. Even some of our worst, darkest moments in four years are things we’re able to laugh about now with the staff and the guys. We always joke about how we got thumped – 9-2 at North Dakota my sophomore year – that they ran out of fireworks in the third period, so even something like that is something you can laugh about. Just the whole experience: The friends I’ve made, the relationships I have, the opportunity to play against the best teams in the country and to have some success as well as develop in the classroom, it’s been incredible.”
Analysis: Still hope for Miami
Remember some of those losses at the end of the 2013-14 regular season?
A 5-2 loss at home against Western Michigan. A 3-0 defeat at Cady Arena at the hands of St. Cloud State. A 5-2 beat down at Denver.
And who could forget that 9-2 shellacking in Grand Forks during which Miami surrendered eight goals in the first two periods.
Granted that team beat Denver in its regular season finale, but it had little chance to advance to the NCHC championship game after a miserable 12-19-3 showing in its first campaign in the then-newly formed league.
But it swept SCSU in its own building and came within a goal of winning the conference tournament.
The point is: Despite the mercurial showing thus far in 2015-16, anything can happen in the postseason, and Miami has a dramatic history in recent years.
Here’s the problem with that rah-rah theory: The RedHawks have yet to beat the Bulldogs this season.
UMD is 3-0-1 vs. Miami, outscoring it 14-4.
And unlike two years ago when SCSU was a lock to make the NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs are a game over .500 and 13th in the PairWise, far from safe as an at-large team.
All that aside, Miami has a flare for the dramatic when it has it gets into nothing-to-lose mode.
When it made its championship game run, the RedHawks were playing miserable hockey entering the NCAAs and barely got into the field.
The point is: Despite the poor showing this weekend, there’s no reason to write off next weekend’s paramount series.
And there is hope that the RedHawks could still make it to Minneapolis and beyond.
Other thoughts…
– Andrew Schmit got beat 1-on-1 for the first UMD goal. Willie Corrin was able to skate around Schmit, put an initial shot on and grab his own rebound for the initial marker.
– Wow, what a beautiful tic-tac-toe goal by the Columbus line. Just amazing how quickly Jack Roslovic was able to re-direct the puck to Kiefer Sherwood, and how he was able to finish.
– Sophomore defenseman Louie Belpedio fired a pass up the ice that was intercepted at his own blue line, ultimately resulting in the go-ahead goal for UMD.
– Guess this comes down to being spoiled, but it’s tough to not have a playoff series on home ice, with that being practically a given the past decade. Would gladly trade the pre-paid season ticket refund, and some, to have Miami host another series.
Miami swept by Minn.-Duluth
After surging above .500 last weekend for the first time since late October, Miami finished its regular season a game below that mark.
The RedHawks were swept at Minnesota-Duluth, falling 3-1 in the series finale on Saturday.
It was just the second losing regular season for Miami in its past 11 campaigns, but both have come in the last three years.
The Bulldogs (15-14-5) opened the scoring when Willie Corrin drove to the net and had his initial shot saved by senior goalie Jay Williams, but the rebound came back to Corrin, who slammed it home 6:44 into the first period.
Miami forward Kiefer Sherwood (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
The RedHawks (15-16-3) tied it with 1:47 left in the opening stanza, as senior forward Sean Kuraly intercepted a pass and centered it to freshman forward Jack Roslovic. Roslovic one-touched it to freshman forward Kiefer Sherwood for a tap-in from the side of the net.
UMD took the lead for good when a rebound popped into the air, was controlled by Charlie Sampair and deposited in the net on Williams’ short side 2:26 into the final frame.
Alex Iafallo sealed it with an empty netter in the closing seconds.
Sherwood’s goal was his sixth in eight games, and Roslovic recorded his third helper in his last three contests. Kuraly also earned an assist on the RedHawks’ goal, as he wrapped up his final regular season with 16 points in his last 14 games.
Williams stopped 18 of 20 shots in the losing effort.
Despite the loss, MU actually moved up a spot in the PairWise and is currently tied for 22nd.
The RedHawks will return to Minnesota-Duluth next weekend for a best-of-3 opening-round series in the NCHC Tournament as the No. 5 seed.
Miami is 7-2 all-time in the league tournament, including 4-1 in the quarterfinal round. But the RedHawks went 0-3-1 against the Bulldogs in the regular season, scoring just three goals in the season series.
The best-of-3 will be played on March 11-13. Times are TBA.
Analysis: Early losses haunting Miami
At least Miami will be familiar with its opponent and the rink it will play in next weekend when it opens NCHC Tournament play.
The RedHawks were blown out, 5-0 at Minnesota-Duluth on Friday, ensuring they will finish fifth in their conference and will return to Duluth for a best-of-3 series on March 11-13.
Miami has played so well so often in the second half of this season, but this may be an example of a team falling too far behind and then needing all of its energy just to bounce back into contention.
In this league a team just can’t put itself in a position where it needs to win practically every game. The RedHawks did and are paying the price now.
We’ve seen in three years how ruthlessly competitive the NCHC is, and good teams are going to beat each other in league play.
That’s why giving away games and losing to inferior opponents is so costly. Miami cost itself numerous points with third-period disappearing acts in the first half of this season, which was capped off by a pair of devastating losses at league doormat Colorado College.
Say the RedHawks (15-15-3) only split at CC and turn a pair of other losses into ties or ties into wins. In this most conservative of scenarios, Miami would’ve headed into Duluth ahead of the Bulldogs by five points, needing just a tie to lock up home ice.
And after the extensive travel an NCHC season entails, home ice is certainly an advantage.
If Miami doesn’t make it out of Duluth next season, it would be easy to point at those games and say the RedHawks couldn’t win the big ones.
But those first-half struggles will have played at the very least an equal role in this team’s demise.
Other thoughts…
– Oh yeah, the game. It’s easier to talk about anything but that. Honestly not much needs to be said. It was a bad night, and teams will have those in this league. It’s just that Miami could ill-afford to come out flat in this game.
– It’s a lot harder to see details on a computer monitor vs., say an HD broadcast or – better yet – being at the rink, but one thing that stood out was a horrible line change that led to the second goal. As much good as the Columbus line has done since being assembled, it needs to do better. Two forwards can’t change in the second period with the long change when the other team has the puck.
– Evan McCarthy made his debut on Friday, which is an interesting move by coach Enrico Blasi on a number of fronts. Obviously Ryan McKay isn’t traveling with the team, and so McCarthy is the only backup option for Miami. Blasi must’ve felt like shaking things up to send a message to his team, which was in all-or-nothing mode at that point because a loss sealed its fate as a No. 5 seed. Also, Williams has logged every minute in net since GoalieGate, and even 10 minutes of rest may help in Saturday’s game in addition to the grueling best-of-3 ahead next week. It was a tough position for McCarthy, making his RedHawks debut in super-hostile territory against a red-hot UMD team. Hopefully the experience makes McCarthy a better goalie down the road and he can give the team depth at that position the next three years.
– Just wondering out loud here, but is flex scheduling a possibility in the future for TV games? Granted the outcome was one-sided, but this game had much more importance that the Western Michigan-North Dakota contest on CBS College Sports that saw the we-also-changed-our-mascot-to-something-Hawks win 8-1. It seems like these final weeks the league and/or network should be able to show the most riveting matchups, and a lot of times that’s an unknown the previous summer when TV schedules are drawn up.
– Senior defenseman Matthew Caito was out again on Friday, missing his third straight game, and that certainly didn’t help. Despite outscoring Colorado College, 7-0 last weekend, the RedHawks didn’t play their best hockey, and it’s obvious their overall play has taken a step back since Caito was injured. Hopefully he will be back for the playoffs next week.
– Is it actually worse to have a No. 5 seed vs. a 6-7-8? Obviously those lower three will face higher-caliber opponents in their best-of-3s — if there is such a thing in this conference — but North Dakota, St. Cloud and Denver are all essentially locked into NCAA Tournament berths. Minnesota-Duluth is tied for 14th in the PairWise and is still fighting for a spot. Remember two years ago when Miami was the No. 8 seed but went to top-seeded St. Cloud and swept?
Miami hammered at UMD
Miami is officially locked into a No. 5 seed for the NCHC Tournament, meaning it will not play any more games at Cady Arena this season.
The RedHawks fell, 5-0 at Minnesota-Duluth on Friday, ensuring that they will return to the Bulldogs’ home rink next weekend to open conference tournament play with a best-of-3 series.
A wrister from the blue line pinballed to Dominic Toninato, who was wide open at the side of the net and slammed the puck home to open the scoring just 5:05 into the contest.
Miami goalie Jay Williams (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
That ended Miami senior goalie Jay Williams’ shutout streak at 153:57 after the senior became the first goalie in team history to record a two-game weekend shutout vs. Colorado College last week.
A bad line change led to an odd-man rush, with Brenden Kotyk finishing at the top of the crease with 10:41 left in the second period.
With 54 seconds left in the middle stanza, Neal Pionk, who was left wide open in the slot, backhanded one over Williams to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to three.
Williams was pulled with about 10 minutes remaining, and freshman Evan McCarthy saw his first varsity action in a Miami uniform.
He was greeted rudely by UMD (14-14-5), however, with Karson Kuhlman beating him on the short side with 6:24 to play in regulation.
With 58 seconds to play, Kyle Osterberg scored to push the deficit to five.
The RedHawks (15-15-3) had won four of their previous five on the road and were 9-3 in their last 12 games.
Miami is now three points behind the Bulldogs in the conference standings but would lose the tiebreaker, meaning UMD has locked up that crucial final home spot for the first round of the conference tournament.
The RedHawks cannot drop lower than fifth either, as Nebraska-Omaha is six points back of them.
Miami’s PairWise ranking also took a hit, as the team fell to 23rd. The RedHawks would likely need to improve to 13 to ensure an NCAA Tournament berth, a tall task considering their next three or four games will be in Duluth before they would face even stiffer competition in the Frozen Faceoff.
It now appears likely Miami’s only shot to qualify for the national tournament would be to win the NCHC Tournament, which it did in 2014-15.
The RedHawks and UMD wrap up their weekend series at 8:07 p.m. on Saturday.
Photos: Colorado College at Miami
Images from the series played between Miami and Colorado College at Cady Arena in Oxford, Ohio, on Feb. 26-27, 2016. All photos by Cathy Lachmann.
Analysis: When does the movie come out?
OXFORD, Ohio – A movie could be made about this season, and it could be better than most sports flicks in recent history.
Hey, they’re making one about John Scott, aren’t they?
Miami shut out Colorado College, 4-0 at Cady Arena on Saturday to complete a series sweep of the Tigers on Senior Night and the final regular season home game of a number of players’ careers.
Need a solid plot?
A team that didn’t have enough offensive weapons (at least at the beginning of the year) takes on one of the toughest schedules in Division I and fails early – almost catastrophically so – posting a 5-9-2 first half, with the final two games being a pair of losses against one of the worst teams in college hockey in the Tigers.
The team is in utter turmoil, both on and off the ice, heading into Christmas break.
Then it seemingly gets worse as senior goalie Ryan McKay, who has had a stellar career in Oxford, is suspended indefinitely for an outburst as he leaves the ice.
That leaves the netminding reins to Jay Williams, who couldn’t get a starting gig in the USHL and has had to share the cage with McKay for almost all of four years.
Including 2015-16, when Williams was left in to allow seven goals in the season opener and then benched for almost the remainder of the calendar year, not picking up his first win until Jan. 3.
Following the GoalieGate loss, the team was 6-11-3.
The team has gone 9-3 since and somehow gotten itself into NCAA Tournament contention, capping its home slate with a pair of wins over Colorado College, the same team that Miami couldn’t beat in December.
The finale is played in front of one of the best Cady Arena crowds in recent history.
Enough drama?
How about Anthony Louis scoring with two seconds left to send Miami to a 2-1 win over Bowling Green?
Or a come-from-behind win against top-10 St. Cloud State in an action-packed 3-2 win at Cady Arena?
Or another key road win at BGSU after trailing 1-0 after the first period?
Or a beloved usher and huge Miami hockey fan suffering from Stage 4 cancer, coming back for that final home game in what was one of the most emotionally-powerful moments in recent memory in the northeast corner of Cady Arena?
Miami’s seniors are honored before Saturday’s game (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
We’ve got the characters too, most notably seniors playing their final games with the RedHawks, and all at the top of their game.
There’s Williams, who was never considered good enough to start for any of his juniors teams, posting a sub-2.00 goals-against average since taking over in net exclusively.
He set two school records in that home finale, one for being the first goalie to post a double shutout in a weekend, another for longest consecutive shutout streak at nearly 150 minutes.
And believe us, his story is actually even better than that.
Insert shameless self-promotion: BoB has a feature coming out about Williams in a couple of days.
How about Taylor Richart, the bust-your-hind-quarters defenseman you just can’t help but love? At 5-feet-9 he had earn a spot on an NAHL roster and then a USHL roster before coming to Miami, where he had to overtake several other more highly-touted blueliners to crack the lineup every night and gets beat up like a pinata on a game-by-game basis.
Taylor Richart celebrates his second goal in an as many nights on Saturday (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
He can seeming do everything on the ice and has elevated his game more than just about anyone in his four years, but he simply hasn’t been a scorer in college.
Richart had one goal in 127 games prior to this weekend. All his did in his final two regular season home games is find the net in both and earn a first star in one contest and second in the other.
Rudy has nothing on Richart.
Or Sean Kuraly? The big power forward who is the son of Miami’s all-time leading sniper notched 19 goals last season but couldn’t find the net with a GPS the first half of 2015-16. After bearing the weight on the world on his shoulders, he had some of his captaincy duties whittled away so he could concentrate on making awesome happen on the ice again.
It’s safe to say he has, tallying 15 points in 12 games and anchoring the Columbus line comprised of the wily veteran and a pair of super-talented freshmen in Kiefer Sherwood and Jack Roslovic.
We can’t forget Alex Gacek who tore his patellar tendon off the bone prior to his Miami career, and how it took years for him to regain his confidence. It’s not even debatable that he is playing the best hockey of his career.
Same goes for Kevin Morris, the super-smart son of an AHL coach who has a 3.6 GPA and has posted six goals in 11 games after finding the net just eight times in his previous 96 contests.
Same goes for Chris Joyaux, who has been so steady on the blueline since joining the team in the fall of 2012.
Same goes for transfer Andrew Schmit, who has gotten to play with his cousin, Conor Lemirande, forming the Crash Cousins line. He is one of the team’s most punishing hitters in recent history but has just eight penalty minutes in 2015-16.
And there’s Michael Mooney, who works so hard when he does get in the lineup and has saved this team’s bacon when it had battled injury woes with his ability to move into any position.
Matthew Caito wasn’t able to play on senior night, coincidentally missing just the second and third games of his Miami career, making the double shutout even more impressive.
It’s unlikely his season is over, and one of the steadiest two-way defenseman to dress for this team since Andy Greene must return for the RedHawks to have any realistic chance at an NCAA run.
BoB won’t forget McKay, whose .917 career save percentage is the fourth-best in school history, and his 1.39 goals-against average as a freshman is easily the best of any goalie to don the pads in Oxford.
Don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes here and not trying to take a side for that reason or stir anything up, but it’s shame how his Miami career has likely ended, without the benefit of taking a victory lap for his final regular season home game.
Good luck topping that, Hollywood.
Kuraly said at intermission on Saturday that this class hopefully has a couple more memories to make before its players go their separate ways to pursue their dreams, both on and off the ice.
The way this big screen-worthy regular season has gone, fans have to feel like the script has several more scenes to be written.
Even if that’s not the case, it’s been an Oscar-worthy story that’s played out the past couple of months.
Other thoughts…
– For five periods this weekend, Miami played decent hockey, good enough to outscore CC. The RedHawks finally got it right in the sixth and final frame, scoring three unanswered goals on 22 shots, as the puck seemed to spend half of that stanza in the Colorado College goal crease. A plus-7 goal differential is great, but a more skilled team would’ve buried some of its ample chances this weekend.
– A night after racking up nearly 14 minutes of power play time vs. 93 seconds for Miami, it’s mind blowing that Colorado College took 14 minutes in first-period penalties for dust-ups with officials, including contact with a linesman.
– It was listed at 3,155, but the crowd at Cady Arena on Saturday seemed larger and was certainly rocking, despite, well…OK…enough with the music bashing – it’s gotten a little better. If Miami does get back to Cady for a series against Minnesota-Duluth, we will need loud fans at the game. Forget spring break…doesn’t having the campus and the Oxford bars to yourselves with a best-of-3 hockey series sound more appealing?
– Miami graduate Nick Brunker did play-by-play for this game and was fantastic, to the surprise of no one who has ever heard his broadcasts. Few have worked harder to advance their broadcast media careers, as Brunker actually got kicked out of the press box of a Cincinnati Mighty Ducks game as a high school student for trying to perfect his craft and record his own calls when there wasn’t ample room, and he later excelled as the PxP guy for the Cincinnati Cyclones.
GRADES
FORWARDS: A. Zach Lavalle won a battle along the boards that ultimately led to Richart’s goal, opening the scoring. Roslovic’s beautiful centering pass led to Morris’ laser one-time finish. Not sure if Kuraly intentionally tipped a pass to Sherwood for Goal No. 3 or if it was inadvertent – we’ll call it deliberate, we’re feeling generous – but what a play. Freshman Josh Melnick (this deep into a write-up this is really Melnick’s first reference?) won a boards battle to get the puck to neutral ice then stole a pass and fed it to Louis for the ENG. Lots of offensive positive here.
DEFENSEMEN: A-. Good work without it two-way leader in Caito. If we had to nitpick, this group did turn it over a couple of times early but seemed to tighten up late, even as Colorado College started taking more chances in the third period (thus the 10 shots in the final 20 minutes for CC). Richart not only scored, he gloved a puck down and shuffled it ahead quickly to Roslovic, leading to the Sherwood goal. Apparently there’s nothing Richart can’t do right now.
Jay Williams makes one of his 24 saves on Saturday (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
GOALTENDING: A. Not as many difficult saves for Williams as on Friday, but this is a weekend the senior will likely tell his grandchildren about. Fifth-five shots, 55 saves in 120 minutes, including 24 of 24 in this one. His rebound control was excellent again, and the TV color guy mentioned that as well. It’s only the third time a Miami goalie has posted back-to-back shutouts and the first time one has blanked a team twice in a weekend. Williams’ shutout streak is now 148:52, the longest in team history. Cody Reichard held the previous mark at 141:41. David Burleigh also posted back-to-back zeroes and went 136:05 between goals against.
LINEUP CHANGES: It was the same 19 as Friday for the RedHawks. Caito, Schmit and Loe missed their second straight games, while Colin Sullivan, Mooney and Ryan Siroky dressed for the second consecutive night.
Williams blanks CC again, sets records
OXFORD, Ohio – Playing in his final Miami regular season home game, Jay Williams made sure his name would be imprinted in the team record book.
The senior goalie stopped all 24 shots he faced to complete a double shutout weekend and series sweep as the RedHawks beat Colorado College, 4-0 on Saturday.
Miami goalie Jay Williams (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
Williams became the first Miami goalie ever to blank an opponent in both ends of a weekend series, and he also set the team mark for longest consecutive scoreless streak at 148:52, edging out Cody Reichard by over seven minutes.
Williams also moved into a tie with Connor Knapp for fourth on the school wins leaderboard with 46, and he is now even with Ryan McKay for fourth place with nine shutouts.
The game was scoreless until the second period, when a wrister by senior defenseman Taylor Richart beat Tigers goalie Tyler Marble with 6:56 left in that frame.
It remained 1-0 until senior forward Kevin Morris whipped a shot into the bottom corner of the net from the slot on the power play with 8:56 left in regulation.
Just 1:27 later, freshman forward Kiefer Sherwood backhanded a shot that slid under Marble’s pads to extend the RedHawks’ lead to three.
A fraction of a second before the final horn, junior forward Anthony Louis punched in an empty goal to cap the scoring.
Miami forward Josh Melnick (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
Freshmen forwards Josh Melnick and Jack Roslovic led Miami in points with a pair each, both on assists. Melnick wrapped up the weekend with a goal and three helpers, giving him 13 points in his last 13 games.
Sherwood scored his sixth goal in eight games and extended his points streak to a team-best six games, and Morris recorded his third marker in his last four.
MU avenged its earlier two losses at Colorado College (6-25-1), as the teams finished the regular season 2-2 against each other.
The RedHawks have won five of their last six and are 9-3 in their last 12, moving above .500 for the first time since Oct. 24 when they were 3-2-1 before a loss to St. Lawrence.
Miami (15-14-3) remains tied for fourth in the conference standings with Minnesota-Duluth, which swept St. Cloud State on the road this weekend. The RedHawks and UMD play each other next weekend in Duluth to wrap up the regular season, and they will almost certainly meet again the following week in the first round of the NCHC Tournament.
Next week’s series will determine which team is home for the best-of-3 NCHC opener, with Miami needing a winning record on the weekend to send it to Cady Arena.
With the win, the RedHawks moved up to 18th in the PairWise rankings.
Miami’s games at Minnesota-Duluth will be Friday and Saturday, with both starting at 8:07 p.m.
Analysis: Miami thrived on special teams
OXFORD, Ohio – Somehow Miami managed to score twice on special teams despite having just 1:33 of power play time vs. 13:49 for Colorado College.
Miami’s Jay Williams (right) and Taylor Richart (left) both starred in Friday’s win (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
Those goals propelled the RedHawks to a 3-0 win over the Tigers on Friday, their second shutout of the season and the first of 2015-16 for senior Jay Williams.
A defining moment for Miami (14-14-3) came midway through the third period, when junior forward Anthony Louis was assessed an interference major and game misconduct.
Teemu Kivihalme was also given a minor on the ensuing skirmish, setting up a 4-on-4. But senior defenseman Chris Joyaux went to the box for slashing 49 seconds later, setting up a 4-on-3 for 1:11 followed by a 5-on-3 for 49 seconds.
Nine of Colorado College’s shots came during this sequence, and Williams stopped them all. MU was 7-for-7 on the PK and is second in Division I at 92.9 percent.
It was the second interference major of the game for Miami, as sophomore defenseman Scott Dornbrock was also sent off for that infraction in the second period.
RedHawks senior defenseman Scott Richart buried a shorthanded goal during that extended penalty kill.
By the way, Miami had taken one major penalty all season entering this game.
Not a fan of criticizing officiating, but it was brutal in this game.
For the power plays to be 7-2 favoring a less-skilled team including a pair of majors is lunacy for a Miami team that does not have a reputation for dirty play.
The RedHawks came into this weekend averaging 8.0 penalty minutes a game, in the bottom 10 in all of Division I.
They should’ve just called the Dornbrock penalty what it really was: A Hitting Too Hard Major.
Maybe it was interference. Maybe. As in: A minor penalty. But as someone who thinks interference should be called more in hockey, it’s something I watch for, and there were several better examples of that infraction both ways that could’ve been called prior to Dornbrock’s major.
Didn’t see Louis’ hit – it was along the boards. But when a player stays down for a minute and none of his teammates come to his rescue and the trainer watches him lay motionless it’s pretty safe to say he’s pandering for a call. Which he got.
Physicality isn’t a big part of Louis’ game, and the player he hit was twice his size.
For the record the interference major was introduced prior to 2014-15 as an option for officials if someone gets laid out away from the play, so from a rules standpoint it’s a valid call.
These specific examples didn’t rise to that definition though. We’re talking borderline minors, and the first one didn’t really even look like that.
In the third period it looked like the refs were going to swallow their whistles, as they led several would-be penalties against both teams go.
Then Conor Leminande, interference, 8:46? Yeah, OK.
Right after that expired the Louis debacle which could’ve been a game changer, and in a way it was, just not in favor of the team with the man advantage(s).
Miami goalie Jay Williams (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
And that’s the bottom line: Miami turned a negative – miserable officiating – and made it a positive. Taylor Richart shorthanded goal, Jay Williams about 90 saves in the third period.
Miami did what a good team should do: Win even when things out of its control go against it.
Other thoughts…
– All of the above said, the RedHawks really didn’t play that well. Colorado College (6-24-1) only has one decent scorer – Hunter Fejes – and Miami did a good job of containing him. The Columbus line was very good but none of the others could get much going. The Tigers are allowing 35 shots per game and Miami finished with 26. Granted it doesn’t help when you’re shorthanded for a quarter of the game.
Miami defenseman Matthew Caito (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
– Senior Matthew Caito was out of the lineup for the second time in his college career. He suffered an upper body injury last Saturday but looked fine when he was walking around before the game. Caito has played in 159 games and is nine away from cracking the top 10 on Miami’s career leaderboard. The RedHawks absolutely need him in the lineup for the NCHC Tournament.
– Coach Enrico Blasi almost took a tumble during the Louis skirmish, as he was leaning forward when the action came over the bench, knocking him back. Fortunately he caught himself before taking a potentially nasty spill.
– The UNO loss was nice on Friday but Minnesota-Duluth really needs to lose to St. Cloud State on Saturday. If UMD wins Miami would have to sweep in Duluth to earn home ice.
– Saturday’s game will be on DirecTV Ch. 608 in retina-burning standard def.
GRADES
FORWARDS: C-. First line was solid, after that, comme ci comme ca. As mentioned, Colorado College is allowing 35 shots a game, and this corps just didn’t generate the type of chances it should have against the league doormat. Louis looked a step behind before being sent to the showers early. Kiefer Sherwood seemed to have picked up that speed Louis didn’t have, as the puck seemed to follow him all night. He’s proving absolutely deadly from the left side of the slot, where he buried his power play goal.
DEFENSEMEN: B-. This group seemed a little out of sorts without Caito in the lineup, as the pairings obviously had to be adjusted. Richart was outstanding, thriving in his PK role. Chris Joyaux had an outstanding first period but turned one over in the third for a breakaway and took a penalty trying to defend the player that stripped him. Louie Belpedio didn’t have a great game and may be suffering from the effects of playing in Europe over Christmas break. Colin Sullivan had one bad turnover but was solid otherwise.
GOALTENDING: A+. The easiest grade to give all season. Williams was simply unbelievable, especially under intense fire in the third period. The goalie’s best friends – the posts – helped him out a couple of times, and the net mysteriously came off its moorings multiple times to squelch scoring threats. Still not sure how he stopped a one-time shot from point-blank range in the final stanza, and Colorado College kept the puck alive and missed the empty net. Great game plus a little luck equals shutout.
Miami’s Michael Mooney (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
LINEUP CHANGES: So Blasi shook things up a little up front. Michael Mooney played for the first time in 11 games, and Ryan Siroky also saw action after being scratched for three straight. Andrew Schmit sat for just the fifth time this season, and Devin Loe was also out after playing in four in a row. Sullivan was in for Caito on defense. Goalie Ryan McKay was not dressed for 11th straight contest.
Williams stellar late in Miami shutout
Josh Melnick (37) celebrates after his game-clinching goal (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
OXFORD, Ohio – After a fairly light night the first 40 minutes, Jay Williams faced a shooting gallery in the third period.
Williams turned aside 18 shots in the final stanza and 31 total in Miami’s 3-0 shutout of Colorado College at Cady Arena on Friday.
It was Williams’ first shutout of the season and the eighth of the senior’s career, as he is in fifth place all-time on the school’s leaderboard.
Miami goalie Jay Williams (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
The RedHawks had to kill seven power plays, including a pair of majors that included an extended 4-on-3 and 5-on-3.
Miami (14-14-3) scored one goal in each period and did so in three different ways – on the power play, at even strength and shorthanded.
Senior forward Sean Kuraly sent a one-time pass to freshman forward Kiefer Sherwood, who ripped a shot past Tigers goalie Jacob Nehama 8:40 into the first period.
After being assessed a major penalty, Miami senior defenseman Taylor Richart’s slap shot beat Nehama with 10:33 left in the middle period for the RedHawks’ first shorthanded goal of the season.
Freshman forward Josh Melnick sealed it by going top shelf from the slot with 1:32 remaining in regulation.
Miami forward Josh Melnick (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
Williams faced a couple of high-percentage shots in the first two periods and several A-plus chances to close out the win.
Colorado College (6-24-1) was on the power play for 6:46 of the third period, with nearly two minutes coming while Miami had just three players on the ice. The Tigers had 13:49 of total power play time vs. 1:33 for the RedHawks.
Despite the lopsided man-advantage time, Miami finished 1-for-2 on the power play and 7 of 7 on the penalty kill plus a shorthanded goal.
Melnick led the RedHawks with two points on a goal and an assist, giving him 11 points in 12 games. Sherwood scored for the fifth time in Miami’s last seven contests.
Miami defenseman Taylor Richart (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
For Richart, it was his second career goal in 128 games, with his other coming vs. Cornell on Dec. 29, 2014.
The RedHawks were in a three-way tie for fourth place in the NCHC entering Friday, and with Nebraska-Omaha losing, Miami is now tied with only Minnesota-Duluth for the final home spot in the conference tournament.
The RedHawks are now locked into a four, five or six seed.
Despite the win, Miami is in a four-way tie for 20th in the PairWise rankings.
Colorado College and Miami wrap up their weekend series at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday.
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