Miami University
Alaska
Christie Nets Overtime Winner Against Alaska Fairbanks
11/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Nov. 22, 2003
OXFORD, Ohio - The nation's leading scorer for all rookies in Division I hockey supplied the game-winning goal on Saturday night at Goggin Ice Arena as freshman Matt Christie (Ajax, Ontario) scored the RedHawks' fifth goal in a 5-4 overtime win against Alaska Fairbanks (5-7-0, 4-4-0 Central Collegiate Hockey Association). The win clinches the first home CCHA sweep of the season for the Miami (8-6-2, 6-3-1 CCHA) hockey team and surges it into second place in the conference.
The first period yielded slightly different results as on Friday as the Nanooks jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal senior Cam Keith. Keith deflected a slapshot into the back of the net at 10:44, giving UAF its first lead of the series. Taking the initial shot from the blueline was Jason Grinevitch, while Curtis Fraser also was credited with an assist.
UAF added to its lead, 2-0, with a shorthanded marker at 13:15 when captain Cory Rask snuck a goal past freshman goalie Brandon Crawford-West (San Diego, Calif.). Tom Herman had a large part to do with the goal as he was the Nanook who stole the puck from the Miami defensemen in their own zone.
Freshman Marty Guerin (Lansing, Mich.) got the RedHawks on the board with a sprawling backhanded shot at 5:28 in the second period, cutting the deficit to one, 2-1. Miami's first goal was worthy of any highlight reel as Guerin flipped the puck into the far corner of the net as he was being tripped by a UAF defender. Senior Derek Edwardson (Morton Grove, Ill.) dug the puck out of the boards to earn the only assist on the goal.
A shot through the five-hole of UAF goalie Preston McKay tied the game, 2-2, off a shot by junior Todd Grant (Indianapolis, Ind.) from the left faceoff circle. Grant gathered up the puck on the power play after sophomore Andy Greene (Trenton, Mich.) launched a massive slapshot from the point that ricocheted off the back boards to Grant on the wing. Edwardson notched his second assist of the game as well.
Miami took its first lead of the game at 11:50 when freshman Andy Nelson (Superior, Wis.) whipped a shot past McKay directly off the faceoff. Senior Mike Kompon (Thunder Bay, Ontario) won the draw straight back to Nelson, who wristed a shot past an unsuspecting McKay for his first career goal.
However, the RedHawk lead was enjoyed for a mere 2:50 when the Nanooks notched their second shorthanded goal of the contest at 14:33, making it a 3-3 game. Ryan Campbell stole the puck from the Miami forwards at his blueline and skated through the neutral zone before finding a streaking Aaron Voros with a crisp pass. Voros quickly flipped the puck past Crawford-West, who was left with nothing but a diving attempt at stopping the UAF rush.
Voros scored his second goal of the game, this time on the power play, at 7:22 in the third period to give UAF a 4-3 advantage. Skating the puck all the way up out of his own zone and into the Miami zone was Campbell, who found Voros open in the slot for the easy one-timer.
A critical hooking penalty on UAF's Tom Herman gave the Red and White its seventh power play of the contest, and Edwardson made the Nanooks pay with his ninth goal of the season at 16:03. Creating the game-tying goal for Edwardson was Grant, who skated around three UAF defenders before slipping the puck across the crease to Edwardson's awaiting stick. Also credited with an assist on the goal was Guerin, his second point of the game.
Neither team managed to score in the final minutes of the third period, but the extra frame provided plenty of excitement for the 1946 in attendance at Goggin. UAF made the first charge early in the extra frame, firing two point-blank shots at Crawford-West, only to be turned away on both counts.
Crawford-West, who had won his previous three starts, got his fourth win in November when Christie lit up the scoreboard with his 11th goal of the season at 2:58. Edwardson wrapped the puck around to senior Greg Hogeboom (Etobicoke, Ontario) on the left wing who had his shot blocked by a UAF defensemen. However, Hogeboom's shot popped up in the air and bounced towards McKay in the crease. Christie took one chop at the puck and connected with it, bouncing it over McKay's shoulder and between the pipes for an exciting 5-4 win.
McKay, who suffered the loss on a tough bounce, stopped 42 shots in the setback. With the RedHawks holding a 47-18 shot advantage in the contest, Crawford-West made only 14-of-18 saves to improve his record to 6-1-1 in eight starts.
With an 6-3-1 record in CCHA play, the RedHawks sit in second place and now get to rest on the bye weekend over Thanksgiving Break. Miami returns to action when it plays its first of two series against intrastate rival, Ohio State, in a home-and-home series on Dec. 5-6.
