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Miami allows 6 more in UNO finale
OXFORD, Ohio – In a 1:50 span of the first period, Miami erased a two-goal deficit on two blasts by Kiefer Sherwood.
But over the final 40 minutes, Nebraska-Omaha netted four unanswered goals en route to a 6-2 win over the RedHawks at Cady Arena on Saturday, spoiling MU goalie Chase Munroe’s first collegiate start and extending Miami’s losing streak to five games.
The RedHawks (3-6-2) have allowed 23 goals in their last four games.
Only two of the eight goals were scored at even strength.
UNO (6-3-1) opened the scoring on the power play, as the Mavericks won the draw and a pass found Teemu Pulkkinen in the high slot. Pukkinen backhanded one on net, got his own rebound and slid across to Mason Morelli for a slam-dunk goal 6:15 into the first period.
Nebraska-Omaha extended its lead shorthanded less than seven minutes later when RedHawks defenseman Grant Hutton had a defensive zone pass intercepted, and David Pope and Austin Ortega played give-and-go for a tap-in goal by Ortega.
Miami forward Kiefer Sherwood (photo by Cathy Lachmann).
Miami responded with 4:58 left in the opening period on the power play when a shot by Anthony Louis hit a body in the slot and ricocheted to Sherwood, who fired it into the top corner from the left faceoff circle.
Sherwood scored from nearly the same spot 110 seconds later, again on the man advantage, on a set-up pass from the point by Josh Melnick, tying the score.
But after that the game got away from the RedHawks.
Ian Brady centered a pass to Luc Snuggerud, who skated around Miami goalie Chase Munroe and deposited the puck in the net to give UNO a 3-2 lead 7:20 into the second period.
The Mavericks again took a two-goal lead just over two minutes later on a 5-on-3 slap shot by David Pope from the center of the faceoff circle.
Tristan Keck sprung Ortega loose for a breakaway, and Ortega pulled up and slid the puck under Munroe to make it 5-2 with 15:12 left in regulation.
Snuggerud capped off the scoring when he pitchforked one through Munroe three minutes later.
Sherwood has scored four goals in his last four games, and Melnick, Louis and Brandt all picked up assists for the second straight contest.
Carter Johnson recorded the other helper.
Ortega and Snuggerud both ended the night with two goals and an assist.
In addition to struggling on the ice, Miami’s injuries are also piling up. Goalie Ryan Larkin, who had started the first 10 games, was out with an upper-body injury, and it is unclear when he will return.
Forward Carson Meyer, the RedHawks’ freshman points leader with 10, missed the entire weekend with an illness and could be out multiple weeks. And defenseman and captain Louie Belpedio missed his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury and had a noticeable limp when he walked around the concourse, but he is expected back next weekend.
Miami is now 0-4 in NCHC play.
The RedHawks’ next four games will be on the road, with their first two coming at Denver on Nov. 18-19.
Analysis: Youth no excuse for loss
OXFORD, Ohio – A young Miami team learned a hard lesson on Friday.
Playing 15 of a possible 60 minutes will not earn you many wins against NCHC opponents.
The RedHawks were lackluster in the first period and the final 25 as they squandered a three-goal lead, falling to Nebraska-Omaha, 6-4 at Cady Arena.
More specifically, it was Miami’s defensive play that did it in during its NCHC home opener. In the first period, UNO players were left open via the backdoor cut multiple times, and the goal the Mavericks scored was on a tip-in by an uncovered player at the edge of the crease.
The latter point is one we’ve seen used a lot by opponents recently. Miami goalie Ryan Larkin has pro-level reflexes, and one of the hardest things for any goalie to defend is the redirection.
Three times the RedHawks were scored on by shots from the blue line that were altered down low by players that were not adequately defended.
The other three were the direct result of turnovers, which is a major concern 10 games into the season. Passing has not been this team’s forte but it was believed that area would improve as the season progressed.
After Saturday’s game we’ll be a third of the way through the regular season, and Miami’s turnover total on Friday would make Pillsbury envious.
Miami captain Louie Belpedio (Cathy Lachmann/BoB).
Captain Louie Belpedio missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury, and it’s become obvious how important he is to this team. The RedHawks are allowing 5.67 goals per game during his absence, which not only is a huge loss because of his two-way play out of his defense spot, but we see how key his leadership is.
The good news on that front is he should return next weekend. That should help stabilize both the blue line and the team in general.
And yeah, we can talk about growing pains, 14 freshmen, etc., but Miami was up three goals in its own building halfway through Friday night’s game. Surely even a freshman-laden team can close out a win up 4-1.
This team has been together for a month and a half, working hard in practice almost every day. Yes, the process still supersedes outcomes to some degree, but there’s no reason why Miami can’t still continue to learn while enjoying success in the win-loss department.
Quality teams do this all the time. It’s reloading vs. rebuilding.
This schedule was set up for Miami to have early league success before facing the truly elite in the NCHC.
Western Michigan is receiving votes but is not ranked and has scored seven goals in three conference games against teams other than Miami. The Broncos lit the lamp 11 times vs. the RedHawks last weekend.
UNO is getting fewer votes in the polls than WMU but was able to chase MU goalie Ryan Larkin, something no other team has done this season.
If Miami is having major struggles against these teams, how will it fare against No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth, No. 2 Denver, No. 6 North Dakota and No. 13 St. Cloud State?
To the Mavericks’ credit, they took every advantage of Miami’s miscues and turned the game around on a shorthanded goal late in the second period. They carried that momentum into the third period and added four more unanswered goals.
Weak third periods have been a recent trend for the RedHawks, who have been outscored, 13-6 in 2016-17 and 9-0 during their current four-game losing streak.
This Miami team that showed so much promise early is in a definite funk, and it needs to get out of it before it gets buried so deeply in the NCHC standings it can’t find its way out.
Other thoughts…
– Let’s start with a positive. Kiefer Sherwood played some of his best hockey of the year in the second period. Sometimes teams have been able to shut him down, but UNO had no answer for him in that frame, as he was able to control the puck, generate several excellent scoring chances and set up others. He’s becoming a dominant player in this league.
– One reason for the key problems for Miami during its skid is its penalty kill. Tops in the NCAA through six games, the RedHawks have surrendered seven power play goals in the last four games, going just 18-for-25 (72.0 percent).
– Even with a semi-strong student presence, attendance only reached 3,002. Many of those fans headed for the gates during the TV timeout following UNO’s go-ahead goal with eight minutes left. Right or wrong, Miami is starting to lose its fanbase for this season and needs to start winning or it will be playing in a half-full building during its most crucial league games when it most needs to maximize its home-ice advantage.
– Off the subject, but it seems now is a good time to bring up honoring a couple more recent graduates by adding their numbers to the wall. It’s a completely Goggin-central class right now, which is understandable considering the rink is just 10 years old, but Andy Greene and Ryan Jones should have their names in the zamboni end. Both were class acts and captains as well as two of the most dominant players ever to don Miami sweaters. Greene did not play at Cady, having graduated in 2006, and Jones finished in 2008. That’s 10 and eight years, respectively. It’s time to officially honor their accomplishments.
GRADES
FORWARDS: C+. Some of the offensive success this group is off-set by turnovers that resulted in UNO goals. Josh Melnick uncharacteristically coughed one up for the go-ahead goal in the third, and Anthony Louis’ errant pass in the second led to the critical SHG. But those two also accounted for three goals and two assists. Coach Enrico Blasi is understandably shaking up the lines at this point.
DEFENSEMEN: D. Did we mention we miss Belpedio? Even sure-handed Grant Hutton got beat by shifty Mavericks forwards a couple of times. Confusion among this group resulted in the delay of game penalty that ended up in Miami’s net for UNO’s first goal. Some of the youngsters are improving but will need to continue that process or it could be a long season in conference play.
GOALTENDING: C. Larkin made a couple of strong saves, as he always does, and he had little chance on either redirection goal. The second UNO goal was on a good one-time shot from the slot that beat Larkin. The fourth and final goal scored on Larkin was definitely stoppable though. Munroe had no shot at stopping the slap-pass goal. After looking nervous on his first couple of shots, he settled in and finished 7 of 8 including a point-blank backhand that he corralled cleanly.
LINEUP CHANGES: Carson Meyer was out for the first time this season, although it is unclear why (he has two goals and eight assists). Karch Bachman returned after sitting on Saturday at Western Michigan. Along with Belpedio, who likely will not play on Saturday but should be back next week, Bryce Hatten was also a scratch. Munroe replaced Larkin for the final 14 minutes, making it unclear who will be in net for the series finale. Larkin may be losing confidence after seeing so many high-quality shots recently, and he stopped just 16 of 20 in this one.
Miami loses 3-goal lead, game to UNO
OXFORD, Ohio – Miami came within 24 minutes of snapping a three-game losing streak.
Anthony Louis celebrates after scoring a second-period goal (Cathy Lachmann/BoB).
But the RedHawks, who led by three goals with four minutes remaining in the second period, allowed five consecutive goals down the stretch in a 6-4 loss to Nebraska-Omaha at Cady Arena on Tuesday.
The Mavericks (5-3-1) jumped on top early, as Mason Morelli tipped in a blue line shot by Ian Brady just 7:21 into the first period on the power play.
After that, it was a game of runs, as Miami (3-5-2) scored the next four goals.
The RedHawks tied it with 3:29 left in the frame when Anthony Louis carried the zone, skated along the boards and centered a pass to Josh Melnick, who one-timed the puck home from the high slot.
Miami took the lead on an innocuous wrister by Scott Dornbrock from along the boards that Conor Lemirande redirected home 6:23 into the second period.
Dornbrock picked up another assist when he slid a pass to Louis in the high slot, and Louis buried a shot to the stick side for his 100th career point with 10:09 remaining in the frame.
Just 34 seconds later, the Louis penetrated uncontested and roofed a backhander from the center of the faceoff circle on the short side to make it 4-1.
But UNO cut the lead to two prior to the second intermission, when Steven Spinner stole a Louis pass, skated the length of the ice along the boards and connected with trailing defenseman Joel Messner, who buried a shot to cut the deficit to two.
Jake Randolph made it a one-goal game 83 seconds into the final stanza on a tip-in off a blue line wrist shot by Messner.
The Mavericks tied it when Spinner picked off a Melnick pass in the neutral zone, skated in and went top shelf for a shorthanded goal with 14:13 left in regulation.
That ended the night for Miami goalie Ryan Larkin, the RedHawks only goalie used this season to that point, as he gave way to freshman Chase Munroe, who made his MU debut.
Munroe was greeted rudely, as Luc Snuggerud’s slap pass from the blue line found the blade of David Pope’s stick for a redirection goal that gave UNO a 5-4 lead with 8:05 to play.
The Mavericks sealed it when Morelli scored an empty netter after Austin Ortega intercepted a Louis centering pass from behind the net.
The RedHawks have surrendered 17 goals in their last three games and have been outscored, 9-0 during their current four-game skid.
Louis finished with three points, giving him 101 for his career and a team-high 14 on the season, including a Miami-best nine goals. All of his points have come in the last eight games.
Melnick recorded a goal and an assist for his first multi-point game of the season, and Dornbrock ended the game with a pair of helpers, his first two-assist game since Jan. 29.
Miami drops to 0-3 in the NCHC.
The series finale will be at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday.
NCHC Snaphot: Colorado College
BoB will be taking a look at the other seven teams in the NCHC over the next few weeks leading up to Miami’s regular season.
We start with Colorado College, which finished last in the conference in 2015-16. The Tigers swept Miami on their home ice Dec. 4-5 but finished 4-19-1 in NCHC play and 6-29-1 overall – a .185 winning percentage.
NCAA TITLES: 2 (1950, 1957).
COACH: Mike Haviland (12-55-4, .197 winning percentage in two seasons).
2015-16 RECORD: 6-29-1 (4-19-1 NCHC, 8th place in the league).
POSTSEASON RESULT: Swept by North Dakota in the first round of the NCHC Tournament.
RINK (capacity): Colorado World Springs Arena, Colorado Springs, Colo. (7,343).
LAST SEASON VS. MIAMI: 2-2.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Miami leads, 7-5-0.
SCHEDULE VS. MIAMI: In Oxford Dec. 9-10.
TOP RETURNING PLAYERS: F Luc Gerdes, F Trey Bradley, D Teemu Kivihalme, G Jacob Nehama, G Derek Shatzer.
KEY NEW FACES: G Alex Leclerc, F Alex Berardenelli.
NOTES: Colorado College has finished seventh, eighth and eighth in the eight-team NCHC in three seasons.
The Tigers scored just 71 goals last season, and the only skater on the 2015-16 team that registered 20 or more points in 2015-16 graduated.
Gerdes is the team’s top returning scorer with 18 points, including seven goals, and Bradley was second on the team in goals (9) and third in points (16).
The defense corps was extremely young last season, as six of the eight blueliners that logged nine or more games were freshmen. The other two were sophomores, including Kivihalme, who tallied three goals and a Tigers-high 12 assists for 15 points.
Goalie Tyler Marble left the program this summer, foregoing his senior season, and Leclerc is one of the favorites to take the reins in net.
Leclerc played in the Alberta Junior Hockey League last season, tying a league high with 31 games and posting a 2.48 goals-against average as his team advanced to that league’s division finals.
It can be difficult to evaluate players coming to the NCAA from Canadian Juniors, and eight members of the Colorado College freshman class played in sub-CHL leagues in 2015-16.
The Tigers still look awfully young and lacking in star power to compete for the upper echelon of the NCHC this season, but good things could be ahead for CC if its young talent develops as is expected in Colorado Springs.
2016-17 season schedule primer
Miami opens its 39th varsity season on Oct. 8 at Providence, and for the first time since Enrico Blasi’s first campaign in 1999-2000, the RedHawks will play a pair of road games to open the season.
NON-CONFERENCE FOES: Miami will play Providence, Ohio State, Maine, Bowling Green, Cornell. The Friars went 1-0-1 at Cady Arena to open last season, and Miami swept the Buckeyes and Falcons in a home-and-home series. MU did not play Cornell or Maine in 2015-16.
LONG HOMESTAND: Miami plays five straight home games Oct. 15-29. The RedHawks host OSU in the first game and weekend series vs. Maine and BGSU.
EXTENDED LAYOFF: Miami has typically taken several weeks off around the holidays, but this season it on has two consecutive weekends off, followed by a road game at OSU on New Year’s Eve.
FOUR STRAIGHT ON THE ROAD TWICE: Miami plays four consecutive road series twice, including Jan. 13-21 when the RedHawks play back-to-back road weekends at North Dakota and Nebraska-Omaha. The first time Miami has a weekend off between series, facing Denver on Nov. 18-19 and Cornell on Dec. 2-3.
BRUTAL FINAL EIGHT: Miami faces the top four teams in the conference from 2015-16 to wrap up its regular season schedule, capped off by a home series against defending national champion North Dakota. Following a weekend off, the RedHawks travel to St. Cloud State on Feb. 10-11, host Denver, face Minn.-Duluth on the road before taking on UND at Cady Arena.
TOURNAMENT SITES: The NCHC Frozen Faceoff will be at the Target Center in Minneapolis for the fourth straight season. Cincinnati hosts the NCAA regionals for the third time in four years, but Miami hasn’t made the tournament the first two times it was held at U.S. Bank Area. It’s the 70th Frozen Four but the first to be played in Illinois.
A link to Miami’s 2016-17 schedule can be found here.
NCHC Quarters: (5) MIAMI at (4) UMD
Beautiful Duluth, Minnesota and the UMD Bulldogs await Miami in the quarterfinals of the NCHC Tournament
Well folks, that was fast.
Another regular season has come and gone. Frankly, I’m glad to see this one go because it goes without saying that in this rebuilding year, Miami (15-16-3) was about as mediocre as it gets.
Now, that’s not to say this season wasn’t exciting. As we wrote a few weeks back, a movie could have most definitely be made about the season.
Consider the drama…a senior goaltender being summarily dispatched after an on-ice incident. A horrible first half of the season made mediocre with a solid second half. A senior captain, burdened by the ‘C’ struggling to regain his form. A Miami team that faces a formidable foe this weekend struggling to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes afloat.
A lot of drama.
This weekend, Miami has to find a way to win two of three games against a squad they have not beaten this season. Though Miami is 1-0 all-time (in Minnesota even) against Minnesota-Duluth (15-14-5) in the postseason, the RedHawks went 0-3-1 against them this season including dropping two in suffering an awful sweep last weekend when they were playing to host this series in Oxford. The RedHawks were outscored 8-1 and were never really in either game. Jay Williams was pulled on Friday and the team didn’t play well in front of him either night. On the bright side, freshman netminder Evan McCarthy saw his first collegiate action in the Miami net – so there’s that.
If Miami cannot rally this weekend, and frankly next (in all likelihood, they’re going to have defend their NCHC Frozen Faceoff title in order to qualify for the NCAA Tournament), it will mean that Miami will have missed the Tournament in two of the past three years. What’s worse is that like in the 2013-14 season, they were supposed to host one of the regional brackets in, yep, Cincinnati. At some point, you begin to wonder if this program has plateaued? Have we seen all that it has to give?
But that’s something we’ll consider in greater depth if the team fails to advance this weekend or next.
Duluth is built from the net out led by sophomore netminder Kasimir Kaskisuo who merely led the conference with a 1.69 GAA in conference play while ranking second with a .932 save percentage. The Bulldogs are also blessed with four solid defenders including Willie Raskob, Neal Pionk, Carson Soucy and Andy Welinski who make it hard on opposing forwards in front of Kaskisuo. Up front, UMD has a stable of solid forwards including Kyle Osterberg, Dominic Toninato, Alex Iafallo and Karson Kuhlman. It’s a deep roster that maybe won’t wow you with statistics, but one that has a threat on every line. It will be a challenge for Miami to contain UMD, something they obviously did not do last weekend.
But, I told our friend and UMD PXP man Bruce Ciskie before last weekend that I felt whichever squad won last weekend’s series, and as such home ice, would lose the following weekend when it really counts – at least for Miami.
And, as we wrote after last weekend’s sweep, Miami has over the past few seasons, found a way to make a run through the NCHC Tournament reaching the championship game in the league’s first two seasons of existence. Two years ago they went on the road after finishing dead last in the regular season and upset Penrose Cup champ St. Cloud in Minnesota and defeated North Dakota in Minneapolis before falling by a goal to Denver in the title game. That Miami squad also needed to capture the Frozen Faceoff title to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Last season, Miami finished second in the regular season and then breezed to a Frozen Faceoff championship. In doing so, the RedHawks lost their top two goal scorers, Riley Barber and Blake Coleman to injury and suspension, respectively, in the title match against St. Cloud. One thing is certain, St. Cloud wants no part of Miami in this tournament.
So, Miami can do this and they’re going to have to again. And, despite the record against UMD this year, I have a strange feeling they will find their way to Minneapolis again. And, the gang at USCHO sees this series as incredibly tough to pick as well.
Love and Honor,
Miami advances.
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.
The Blog of Brotherhood - RedHawks Hockey 