Jan. 22, 2005

Box Score

OXFORD, Ohio - The Miami University RedHawks (9-13-4, 5-10-3 CCHA) scored three goals in the first period and never looked back as they beat the University of Nebraska at Omaha Mavericks (12-10-2, 10-8-2 CCHA) by a score of 4-2 on Saturday night at Goggin Ice Arena. The Miami victory snapped a six-game conference unbeaten streak for the Mavericks, who entered the game in third place in the CCHA.

Nebraska-Omaha opened the scoring just 1:49 into the first period. Mick Lawrence converted a 3-on-1 break when he beat Brandon Crawford-West (San Diego, Calif.) high to the glove side.

At 5:36 of the first, sophomore Joe Cooper (Toronto, Ontario) tied the game for Miami with his first goal of the season, a beautiful wrap-around effort from behind the UNO net. Assists on the goal went to junior Stephen Dennis (Toronto, Ontario) and freshman Ryan Jones (Chatham, Ontario).

Sophomore Matt Christie (Ajax, Ontario) gave the RedHawks a lead they would not relinquish, just over a minute after Cooper's goal. With Miami on a 5-on-3 power play, Christie, stationed at the right faceoff dot, took a pass from junior Chris Michael (Glenview, Ill.), and wired it past Nebraska-Omaha's Chris Holt.

Andy Nelson (Superior, Wis.) made it a trio of unanswered goals for the RedHawks at 13:48 of the first. The sophomore took a pass from classmate Jon Saunders (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) and blistered a slapshot that beat Holt high to the glove side.

Just 34 seconds into the second period, UNO capitalized on a Miami turnover behind its own net to make the score 3-2. Bill Thomas dug the puck out from behind the RedHawk net and found Scott Parse in the slot who beat Crawford-West with his team-leading 13th goal of the year.

With Dennis in the penalty box for charging, Miami scored a shorthanded goal to go ahead 4-2. Christie forced a turnover at the UNO blueline where freshman Nathan Davis (Rocky River, Ohio) picked up the loose puck and skated in all alone for his ninth goal of the year, tying him for the team lead with sophomore Marty Guerin (Lansing, Mich.) and senior Todd Grant (Indianapolis, Ind.).

Crawford-West stopped 32 shots for Miami to improve his record to 8-11-4 and pick up the game's first star. Holt turned away 35 of the 39 shots and was named the game's third star. Miami scored its third power-play goal of the series as they went 1-for-10 with the man-advantage while UNO was 0-for-5.

The RedHawks will return to action on Jan. 28-29 when they travel to Big Rapids, Mich., for a two-game series with the Bulldogs of Ferris State University.

Notes: Miami's three goals in the first period were the first time the RedHawks scored three times in a period since the first period on Dec. 10 versus Ferris State ... SO F Joe Cooper scored for the first time since Oct. 24, 2003 at Lake Superior ... Miami is now 4-7-2 in games following a loss and 8-2-2 when leading after two periods.