Blog Archives
Enrico Blasi’s Postgame Comments
From last night. USCHO reporter Matthew Semisch’s quick interview with Enrico Blasi following Miami’s 6-3 loss to Omaha. He makes note that both Williams and Coleman will be fine and that Miami’s transition defense wasn’t very good last night which is precisely what we saw, too.
UNO 6, Miami 3
Freshman Austin Ortega’s two goals paced Nebraska Omaha past Miami on Friday night. (omavs.com)
In a game that was a strange nightmare of this programs’ past, the Miami RedHawks were outskated and outcoached by a hot Nebraska Omaha team 6-3 on Friday night.
Last night was reminiscent of games I’ve seen Miami play in years against Michigan when we didn’t have nearly as much talent as the Wolverines. The Mavericks, stymied in the first period by Miami’s defensive system, broke out in the second period by scoring five times, largely off transition plays or rushes to overwhelm the RedHawks and seize control of a close game. It was clear that Dean Blais’ intent was to lure the RedHawks into an up-and-down game by sending three forwards hard through the neutral zone to create odd-man rushes. That effort resulted in several defensive lapses with UNO forwards routinely getting behind Miami defensemen who were outnumbered and flat-footed. The Miami forwards really have to do a better job Saturday night back checking to limit the transition chances for Omaha. When Blais upped the tempo, Miami simply had no answer. Cross-ice passes found streaking forwards in the neutral zone. Routine centering passes found tape, and then, the back of the net far too often.
What I found most disturbing about Friday’s game was that after a reasonably solid first period that saw Miami convert on a powerplay and limit the Mavericks to just six shots on goal, it seemed Miami became disinterested and played flat and lackadaisical for the first 17 or 18 minutes of the second period. Defensemen were out of position and outskated, and forwards took the easy route deciding two-way hockey was optional. The RedHawks also took far too many shots from the outside and didn’t really get into the hard areas of the ice until late in the second period. By that time, the score was
Sophomore Riley Barber recorded assists on two of Miami’s three goals on Friday night. (MURedHawks.com)
5-1 and the game looked out of reach. But, as the second period wound down, Sean Kuraly would inject some life into his teammates by scoring a late powerplay goal at 19:36 and let out a loud “whoop” following it that was clearly audible all the way up in the press box. For the night, Kuraly was probably the best of the RedHawks, and at one point, was elevated to the first line alongside Austin Czarnik and classmate Riley Barber. And, just :19 after Kuraly’s tally, Kevin Morris would jam home a loose puck in front of the net and suddenly it was a two-goal game at 5-3 heading to the third.
In the third, the RedHawks showed immediate life, but after having an early powerplay and exhausting energy putting pressure on the Mavs, by the 10 minute mark of the period, it was clear Miami had exhausted whatever power they had to forge a comeback.
On the night, the RedHawks were 2 for 7 on the powerplay, but missed several other good chances. Junior captain Austin Czarnik will most certainly say that he let a few golden opportunities pass by as he was stopped twice by UNO junior goaltender Ryan Massa on a penalty shot and a clean shorthanded breakaway attempt. If Czarnik converts just one of the two, we perhaps have a different game down the stretch and the Hawk bench would have gotten a huge boost.
As poorly as the RedHawks played transition defense, they did leave enough Grade A scoring chances on the ice that could have made this a game. But, in the end, UNO’s speed and transition game took the RedHawks by surprise and they looked unprepared and unable to respond. I think Dean Blais certainly got the best of Enrico Blasi on this night. But, the great thing about college hockey is there’s always tomorrow night. Saturday’s game is incredibly important for Miami. Finding a way to overcome tonight’s poor performance and earn a win will make the flight back to Ohio a lot happier on Sunday and reestablish Miami’s confidence heading into next weekend’s road series at Bemidji State of the WCHA.
Notes
- After being injured in the second period, sophomore netminder Jay Williams did not return to the game though he was spotted on the bench for a while after the injury and in the hall leading to the RedHawks locker room during the third period. We’ll try to get an update on his status, but it’s certainly clear that Ryan McKay will start Saturday night’s game.
- Junior Blake Coleman appeared to injure his leg in the second period, but did return to the ice in the third period and played reasonably well. Hopefully, he’ll be in the lineup tomorrow night and the injury is nothing serious.
- Junior Jimmy Mullin was scratched in favor of senior Bryon Paulazzo who responded with a goal and some gritty play in front of the Omaha net. And, I believe Paulazzo will be in the lineup Saturday night as well.
- Ryan McKay did not look like himself tonight in relief of the injured Jay Williams. He was certainly fighting the puck most of the night. Perhaps this game was just a strange anomaly overall, and we’ll look back upon it late in the season and agree it was just an off night for everyone.
- The CenturyLink Center in downtown Omaha is a nice “pro” building. However, it lacks character, a pep band and a full house which is why UNO is constructing a new building that seats around 6,000-7,000 on their campus about five miles to the west of downtown.
- Omaha controlled the faceoff circle winning 46 to Miami’s 32. Clearly the RedHawks must narrow that gap Saturday night. That’s far too many losses against a squad looking to get out into transition.
- As I was leaving CenturyLink Center this evening, the event staff had already began the changeover process to get the building into shape for Creighton basketball. The 23rd ranked Jays face Tulsa on Saturday at 3:30 PM EST leaving the staff fewer than four hours to re-fit the “Clink” as the locals call it, for college hockey. That means that Miami will not have a regular morning skate/practice. However, given Miami’s performance, I wouldn’t be surprised if Miami’s staff was calling local rinks during the game to find available ice tomorrow. That’s kind of a joke…sort of…
RedHawks to head to ‘Somewhere in Middle America’
With apologies to Adam Duritz and “Counting Crows,” Miami hits the road for Omaha to take on old CCHA foe Nebraska Omaha in a weekend NCHC series.
The Mavericks, you may recall, were conference mates with Miami from 1999 until leaving the CCHA in favor of the WCHA in 2010. That, of course, was an ill-fated and perhaps short-sighted move, as college hockey underwent enormous realignment after the announcement that the Big Ten would field its own hockey conference in spring 2011. And, after all was said and done, UNO and Miami, along with charter schools Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth and North Dakota would announce the formation of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference in summer 2011.
After two more seasons in the CCHA and WCHA respectively, Miami and UNO once again find themselves facing off as conference rivals. This weekend marks the first time the programs have met since February 20, 2010 in Oxford when UNO knocked off then #1 Miami 4-2 in head coach Dean Blais’ first trip to Steve Cady Arena.
The ‘Dean’ of the NCHC
Speaking of Dean Blais, his resume speaks for itself. But, Miami head coach Enrico Blasi summed it up nicely during his weekly press conference.
“The one thing I know about Dean Blais’ teams is they’re going to play hard and they’re going to be in your face and you’re going to have to be ready to compete for 60 minutes.”
UNO’s Dean Blais is in his fifth season behind the Mavericks’ bench. (BleacherReport.com)
One of the most decorated American amateur coaches in recent history, Blais spent 10 seasons behind the bench at North Dakota, where he compiled a record of 262-115-34 and won two national titles (1997, 2000) before leaving to take an associate head coaching job with the Columbus Blue Jackets. After spending four years in Cowtown, also serving as director of player development, Blais went back to his amateur roots where he was hired by the Fargo Force of the USHL to be their head coach, and was eventually lured back to school in 2009 by new Omaha AD Trev Alberts. In going to Omaha, he took over the reins of the program from long time head man Mike Kemp, who is largely regarded as the Father of UNO hockey. Blais has also long been involved with USA Hockey winning a gold medal in 2010 with the U-20 World Junior team. The two-time Spencer Penrose winner (1997, 2001) has an all-time record of 342-189-49 over nearly 15 seasons in college hockey.
Whom to Watch
On the ice, the Mavericks (6-6, 3-1 T2nd NCHC) are led by 2013 Hobey Baker finalist, senior Ryan Walters, who finished last season with 52 points (which tied for 2nd in program history for a single season) after scoring 22 goals. Listed at 6-0/190, Walters has started strong and is tied for the team lead in points (13) on three goals and has helped the Mavs rebound from a 2-4 start to win four of their past six including last weekend’s split with then #2 Michigan in Omaha. Along with Walters, Miami much watch
Senior Ryan Walters leads a dangerous UNO offense. (Colorado Springs Gazette)
junior forward Josh Archibald who leads the team in goals (9) and is tied with Walters atop the team’s scoring list. Archibald’s name should be familiar to some as he skated on Team USA’s 2012 U-20 team which failed to medal a year after earning bronze in Buffalo. Others to make note of include junior forward Dominic Zombo (5-5-10) and senior Brock Monpetit (6-3-9) who rank third and fourth in team scoring for UNO.
Overall, the Mavericks are second in the NCHC in scoring averaging 3.08 goals per game. Miami at 3.42 goals per game leads the way in the league with 41 goals though St. Cloud is averaging just a shade more at 3.50 goals per game in two fewer contests played.
Who’s in Net?
Defensively, the Mavericks are allowing 3.25 goals per game as they have struggled to find consistency in net. Lately however, UNO has gotten better goaltending from junior Ryan Massa and freshman Kirk Thompson having allowed more than three goals just once over their past six games. Massa and Thompson are very similar goaltenders. Both are around six feet tall and possess nearly identical numbers. For instance, both goaltenders are 3-2 with goals against averages north of 3 and save percentages below .900. In contrast, Miami allows just 2.08 goals per game and sophomore Ryan McKay leads the nation with three shutouts and has posted sterling 1.74/.943 numbers. However, because McKay has played the last four games for Miami, I would not be at all surprised to see McKay in net Friday night and fellow sophomore Jay Williams (2-2/2.75/.905) between the pipes on Saturday.
The RedHawks
For Miami (7-4-1, 2-2 T5th NCHC), the eighth ranked RedHawks enter the weekend having faced two top 15 teams in a row after splitting series with NCHC foe St. Cloud State and Big Ten opponent Wisconsin just last weekend in Oxford. That stretch has catapulted Miami’s strength of schedule to the top of the heap. This week’s KRACH ratings show Miami’s SOS sitting at #1 having played the most challenging schedule in the land.
Overall, the offense is simply not delivering against top teams as they have managed just 13 goals in their last six games against ranked opponents including just seven goals total over the past two weekends.
Junior Blake Coleman has picked up his game this year. (MURedHawks.com)
As teams focus on shutting down the top line of Riley Barber, Austin Czarnik and Jimmy Mullin, Miami must have secondary scoring from throughout the lineup. To this point, most of that scoring has come from junior Blake Coleman as he has netted seven goals which ties him with Czarnik for second on the team. Last season, Coleman scored nine goals so he’s well on his way to surpassing that total as his game continues to improve. But, outside of Coleman’s efforts, only two other RedHawks have scored at many as four goals (Alex Wideman and Anthony Louis).
And, as head coach Enrico Blasi said earlier this week, Miami needs to have all four lines contributing in order to play their game and be successful. Said Blasi,
“We need everybody in our lineup doing the same thing. Everybody’s got to be on the same page. This is not a team that’s going to rely solely on one or two players.”
Prediction
All-time, Miami is 17-7-3 against Omaha including a 7-4-1 mark in the self-proclaimed, “Gateway to the West.”
Tired of splitting, I think Miami gets a much-needed league sweep this weekend in Omaha. And, we’ll be live tweeting from the press box of the Century Link Center @miamihockeyblog and will have updates and recaps immediately following Friday night’s game. Miami All-Access has the call both nights along with local radio coverage at 1450-AM (Friday only) and 1490-AM (both nights).
Miami Hosts Wisconsin for Weekend Set
There are a lot of similarities between Miami and Wisconsin this weekend: Red and White as team colors; “Jump Around” as the unofficial team songs (for Bucky Football, anyway); size, speed and strength as their defining characteristics on the ice. But after that, Miami and Wisconsin are 2 very different teams. This weekend, the two teams face off in non-conference action in Oxford.
Wisconsin comes in as the number 12 team in the nation, just itching to break into the top ten. While the conference schedule hasn’t started yet, the Badgers play in the newly formed Big Ten Conference. Miami comes in having played the 8th toughest schedule in the country this weekend. After last weekend’s games at St. Cloud, the RedHawks have now played against 3 then-top 10 teams (current #3 St. Cloud, #5 Providence and now #13 North Dakota). Head Coach Enrico Blasi had these words of praise for the visiting Badgers:
“Another tough weekend for our team. We’ve grown accustomed to that right now. Wisconsin is very deep up front with some high-end forwards. They are very well coached. We need to focus and continue to get better and be ready on Friday night. I know our team got better last weekend and that’s really our goal every time we step on the ice.”
Riley Barber is tied for 3rd in the NCAA in scoring. (Flickr: Dani Mackenzie)
Blasi will have his hands full as the Badgers come in scoring 3.83 goals per game – just a touch ahead of Miami’s 3.70 goals per game, and 9th in the country in scoring. On the other hand, Wisconsin does allow the same 3.83 goals per game and is currently 52nd in the country in scoring defense, while Miami comes in at number 11, allowing just 2.2 goals per game.
Another point of emphasis will be the special teams this weekend. Miami is currently killing 84.3% of power plays, including killing all 10 chances in St. Cloud last weekend. Wisconsin is 6 for 24 (24%) on their power play, so limiting the man advantage situations will be key for Miami. On the other hand, Miami’s power play, currently 7th in the nation at 27.3% will look to continue it’s torrid streak against Wisconsin’s 40th ranked penalty kill, stopping just 79.3% of their opponents’ power play chances.
Who’s in Net?
Wisconsin’s Goalie situation is one to be wary of. Over the last 2+ seasons, Joel Rumpel is 29-21-6 in net for the Badgers, but was injured during the second game of the season and will not play tonight. Backup Landon Peterson has stepped in nicely and sports a 2-2-1 record. He will likely start in Rumpel’s place for both games this weekend.
On the Miami end of the ice, you can’t say that Ryan McKay has been anything short of fantastic so far this season. When called upon, he has been stellar and sports a 4-1-1 record including a split last weekend at St. Cloud State. We have to guess on the rotation or non-rotation status every week, so we’ll see who Coach Blasi sends out for the weekend series.
Ryan McKay stops a shot by Minnesota State’s Matt Leitner in 2013 NCAA Regional action.
(Toledo Blade: Andy Morrison)
“Jay and Ryan play extremely well,” he said at this week’s press conference. “It’s really tough to make a decision who to play in net. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them split again. How do you go against Ryan when he pitches 2 shutouts back to back? Just a gut feeling more than anything, but we’ll re-evalutate from day to day.” Lately, Blasi has been going with McKay on Friday nights, but who plays on Saturday is anyone’s guess. With another solid performance Friday, it very well could be McKay for his 4th start in a row on Saturday.
Shaking Off the Rust
Wisconsin comes in to the series having played just 6 games overall, and has had off weeks every other week it seems. They played October 18-19 at Boston College and at Boston University (2 losses and 16 goals against on the weekend), had a week off, and then hosted Lake Superior State (3-3 tie and 8-1 win). After another week off, they come to Oxford still trying to get on a roll, and will have another off week next weekend before playing their first Big Ten games the last weekend of November.
Head Coach Enrico Blasi likes to get his team moving and keep them rolling. I’m guessing Wisconsin’s Mike Eaves wants to get his team rolling as well. Shaking off the rust over the first 6 weeks of the season isn’t exactly the way to do it, so this weekend, the Badgers will certainly be looking for blood.
Predictions
Coleman has been on fire for the RedHawks. (Miami University Athletics)
Miami won’t have it easy this weekend, but if the Badgers cannot stay out of the penalty box, they’re going to be in trouble. According to tonight’s play-by-play man Dave Starman, Wisconsin likes to pack it in on the penalty kill and this will leave the 5-forward line including Czarnik, Barber and Wideman wide open on the blueline during power plays. Look for several power play goals on the weekend from the specialty units.
I can’t help myself. Miami 4-1 and 3-1.
Where to Watch
Friday’s game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network with Dave Starman, Ben Holden and Shireen Saski calling the action. Saturday’s game can be caught on Miami All-Access.
Enjoy the action and GO REDHAWKS!
#7 Miami Drops #3 St. Cloud 2-0
In one of their most complete games of the season, the #7 Miami RedHawks went into the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. and handed #3 St. Cloud State their first loss of the season shutting out the Huskies 2-0.
The win was significant as it was St. Cloud that knocked Miami out of last year’s NCAA tournament winning a 4-1 Midwest Regional final in Toledo in front of a crowd that would make duhOSU’s crowds at Cheap Furniture Arena look huge.
Miami got on the board first about halfway through the first period as freshman defender Matt Joyaux recorded his first collegiate goal on a nifty pass from junior Alex Wideman. After Miami won a puck battle at the SCSU blueline, sophomore forward Sean Kuraly muscled the puck into the offensive zone where Wideman collected the puck along the boards and centered a pass to a trailing Joyaux who one-timed a low shot on the ice past Husky goaltender Ryan Faragher for what turned out to be the game-winning goal.
Sophomore Ryan McKay makes one of his 31 saves in a 2-0 Miami victory. (Miami University Athletics)
In the third, Miami collected an insurance marker as sophomore Riley Barber connected on his ninth goal of the season by firing a wrist shot off a draw in the SCSU end. Junior captain Austin Czarnik won the draw cleanly and directly to Barber, and he made no mistake ripping a shot past Faragher on the far side.
Sophomore netminder Ryan McKay made 31 saves to record his second consecutive shutout and sixth of his career and the Miami penalty kill went 5-for-5 and forced many of the SCSU chances to the outside though the Huskies certainly had their share of good scoring chances, but were simply unable to find the back of the net. Miami will still need to focus on limiting chances down low tonight and for the rest of the season as the young defense corps continues to grow.
“It was a great team effort, our most complete game all season,” said McKay. “We blocked a ton of shots (17). We weren’t blocking a lot of shots at the beginning of the season.”
“The size of the ice helps us,” McKay said of the Olympic-sized sheet at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. “We’re similar teams in a lot of ways. I thought our ‘D’ kept their position on the dots and kept stuff to the outside,” he said. “And when we needed to, we collapsed and won battles in the tough areas.”
Miami and St. Cloud will finish the two-game NCHC series tonight from the National Hockey Center. Faceoff is at 8:07 PM EST and the game can be heard via Miami All-Access. The Huskies also offer a pay video feed from their website, scsuhuskies.com.
Jeff Zatkoff Notches First Career Win as Penguins Blank Blue Jackets
Jeff Zatkoff makes one of his 19 saves to earn his first career NHL victory. (Zanesville Times Recorder)
It was only fitting that former Miami goaltender, Jeff Zatkoff, notch his NHL first win in a town where he and the RedHawks have been so successful over the years.
The 26 year old Miami alum from Detroit, Mich. made 19 saves to record his first career win shutting out the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 behind goals from Derek Engelland, Jussi Jokinen and former Ferris State Bulldog, Chris Kunitz. The win moves Zatkoff’s season record to 1-2 with a 3.35 GAA and .865 save percentage as he has largely seen the pine behind Penguins starter Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury, who is 10-2 and has played 12 of Pittsburgh’s first 15 games, collected the victory on Friday as the Penguins swept a home-and-home series from their new division-mates.
With the loss, the bumbling Blue Jackets slip to 5-8 and have started what was supposed to be a breakout season very slowly.
Congratulations, Jeff, and Love and Honor! Here’s to many more victories in the future!
Weekend Preview: What’s a Golden Griffin?
“This weekend will be no different – they are a very good hockey team,” Head Coach Enrico Blasi said. “They beat Denver in Denver. We need to continue to prepare at a high level during the week and start implementing some of those things we are doing during the week during pressure situations (in games). Playing top teams will expose you. Some times you do positive things and you learn from your positive play. I think both things are happening right now. We need to clean up the negatives and hopefully have more positives than negatives.”
Miami had quite the schedule to start the season: weekend series against in-state rival Ohio State, #5 North Dakota and this week’s #3 team Providence. Miami gets a break and faces off against the Canisius Golden Griffins this weekend. It will be more than just a physical test on the ice, but a mental one as well. Miami won’t be able to help thinking “we should crush these guys” and the fans will have that same thought as well. I know I do.
Scouting the Golden Griffins
4-0-0 all time against Canisius? 23-3 all time score over them? 11-5-0 all time against Atlantic Hockey teams overall? Don’t let it go to your heads, boys. All of these facts don’t mean this will be an easy weekend.
Through 3 games, Senior Defenseman Ben Danford leads the Golden Griffins with 5 assists and 5 points. Keegan Asmundson stopped Denver, and led the Golden Griffins to a 4-1 win last weekend. He was named Atlantic Hockey’s goaltender of the week for his effort. But what are we going to see from Canisius on the ice? It’s going to be interesting which team shows up – the team that beat 17th ranked Denver 4-1 in Magness Arena? Or will it be the team that has lost to Air Force AND Niagara on opening weekend?
We’ve Got a lot of Broken Records
On the Miami side of things, you know what I’m going to say next…
Riley Barber is first in the nation in scoring with 12 points, and his 8 goals are second in the nation. Austin Czarnik has 11 points, had 5 assists last weekend and was named NCHC Offensive Player of the Week. Sound like a broken record? Well, it is, but I’m happy to be talking about leading scorers at this point of the season. Hopefully these two guys will be in those same positions at the end of the season and we’ll be talking about Hobey Baker Finalists again.
Like a broken record: we should see Jay Williams Friday night and Ryan McKay (pictured) on Saturday. (Toledo Blade: Andy Morrison)
Another spot on that same record that’s skipping and repeating over and over again? We detailed it as the season started, and so far, it has been a straight-up rotation in net for the RedHawks. Blasi hasn’t wavered in his Friday/Williams and Saturday/McKay rotation and don’t expect it to change this weekend. (Well…actually…depending on how close the games are, you might see walk-on Anthony Jacaruso get his first NCAA playing time this weekend if things get out of hand. With the early season momentum needing to get moving in the right direction however, don’t count on it.)
Prediction Time
This weekend should be a nice clean sweep to get Miami back on solid footing before heading to St. Cloud State next weekend for their first ever NCHC road trip. Ryan McKay and Jay Williams should both get on track to get their seasons rolling as well. Austin Czarnik will pass the puck a million different ways (behind the back, through the legs, off the scoreboard) to Riley Barber, who will impress us with his amazing shooting ability. Whoops. There’s that broken record skipping again…
Be sure to follow us on Twitter, as we will be giving you what we can during this weekend’s games at @MiamiHockeyBlog. Enjoy the hockey, everyone!
Clash of the Titans: Miami Plays North Dakota for Weekend Set
This week, I teamed up with another member of The Hockey Writers, Eric Burton (found on twitter as @goon48) to preview the upcoming series with North Dakota. This originally appeared on The Hockey Writers, so click here to see the full preview over at THW: http://thehockeywriters.com/clash-titans-miami-plays-north-dakota-weekend-set/ Here are a couple highlights of of the full version.
#2 Miami stops Ohio State
Light the Lantern!
On the strength of six goals from six different players, the #2 Miami RedHawks defeated Ohio State 6-2 in a non-conference game in Columbus, Ohio on Friday night.
In a nutshell, this game came down to penalties and special teams.
Ohio State committed four first period penalties and Miami converted those opportunities into a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Junior captain Austin Czarnik opened the scoring for the 2013-14 season by converting a Riley Barber rebound off the back boards with a 5×3 advantage for a quick Miami lead at 7:47 of the first. And again, with Miami skating with a two-man advantage, sophomore Alex Wideman took a pass from Barber and notched his first of the year to give the RedHawks a 2-0 lead they would carry into the third period.
Sophomores Sean Kuraly and Riley Barber recorded assists on Miami’s first two goals. Kuraly would end the night with a career high three helpers and leads the squad in the early scoring race.
In the third, Ohio State would score two goals within the first three minutes of action coming off the mat to even the game with goals by Darik Angeli and someone named Chad Niddery. This was interesting because like last Saturday’s exhibition game against Windsor, Miami suffered two quick defensive lapses allowing for two quick scores.
During his weekly press conference, head coach Enrico Blasi said he felt his defensemen looked a little jittery at times and would need to catch up to the speed of the game. I wonder if it’s so much a speed thing and perhaps more of a consistency element. Playing to the whistle and understanding your opponent can hurt you until the game is over. Certainly there is enough returning experience from last year including sophomores Matthew Caito, Chris Joyaux and Taylor Richart to compensate, but really, Miami is incredibly green on the blueline. Last night, the RedHawks started two freshmen defensemen (Matt Joyaux and Trevor Hamilton), a junior (Ben Paulides) who’s played in only 35 career games, the aforementioned three sophomore regulars, and started a sophomore goaltender (Jay Williams) who was making only his 20th career start.
Speaking of Williams, he recorded his 13th career victory in making 26 stops on the night. Overall, he was solid and gave the RedHawks what they needed. And, hey, I’ll take two goals allowed per night all year.
Junior Jimmy Mullin recorded assists on two of Miami’s six goals. (photo: Rachel Lewis)
Last thought regarding the defense…all I’m saying is that if there is a part of the game that will take a little time, it’s the defense. And, they only surrendered two goals but duhOSU isn’t exactly a scoring juggernaut averaging only a smidge more than two goals per game last season. I know we’ll see daily improvement here throughout the year as the newbies work their way into the regular grind of college hockey.
Back to the game.
After Ohio State tied the game at two, it was as if a bell sounded for the offense.
Miami would go on to score four unanswered goals in the third including Cody Murphy’s game-winner just 29 seconds after the Buckeyes tied the score. Junior Jimmy Mullin carried the puck into the zone drawing the defense close before dropping a pass to the trailing Murphy who beat Ohio State sophomore goaltender Collin Olson. Following Murphy’s goal, junior Blake Coleman, freshman Anthony Louis and Paulides also found the net as Miami pulled away in style. For Louis and Paulides, it was their first career goals. While Louis’ came in his first collegiate game, it was game 35 for Paulides, the junior defenseman from San Jose, California.
Tonight, Miami and Ohio State will hook up for the final time this season as the RedHawks will open the home schedule at Steve Cady Arena. Faceoff time is 7:05 PM EST and the game can be viewed (hopefully) via Miami All-Access.
Notes
- Junior Blake Coleman scored only nine goals last season. Getting him going early is a great sign.
- Miami debuted their new red/away Bauer sweaters (above) adorned with chrome highlights. It’s still early, but I’m not sure I’m loving them. Give me these bad boys any day.
- Miami was 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 3-for-8 on the powerplay.
- Freshman defenseman, Trevor Hamilton, recorded his first collegiate point, an assist, on Murphy’s game-winner.
The Blog of Brotherhood - RedHawks Hockey 
