Dec. 8, 2006

| Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio - On the strength of a three-point night from freshman Jarod Palmer (Fridley, Minn.), that included two goals and an assist, the Miami University RedHawks (14-5-0, 10-3-0 CCHA) extended their Central Collegiate Hockey Association winning streak to six games with a 5-2 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes (5-9-3, 5-6-2 CCHA) on Friday night. Senior Marty Guerin (Lansing, Mich.) chipped in two points on a goal and an assist as the fourth-ranked RedHawks maintained their lead on top of the CCHA.

After a scoreless first period, sophomore Alec Martinez (Rochester, Mich.) gave Miami a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal, his eight of the season at 1:33 of the second period on a wrist shot through traffic. From behind the Ohio State net, junior Nathan Davis (Rocky River, Ohio) moved the puck up the boards to sophomore Brian Kaufman (Shoreview, Minn.), who found Martinez at the center point. Davis' assist, his career-high 21st of the season, was the 100th point of his career and made him the 38th member of Miami's 100-Point Club.

Ohio State wasted no time in responding as Mathieu Picard beat Charlie Effinger (Belleville, Ill.) with a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle at 2:25 that made it 1-1.

Palmer's sixth goal of the season put Miami back on top at 11:23 of the second when both teams had four skaters on the ice. Sophomore Justin Mercier (Erie, Pa.) picked up a loose puck just inside the OSU blue line and fired a shot on goal. Ohio State goaltender Joseph Palmer made the initial save, but the puck bounced out of his glove and onto the stick of Miami's Palmer, who was waiting at the right post to give Miami a 2-1 lead.

Just as it started the second period, Miami came out in the third and found the back of the net as senior Marty Guerin's (Lansing, Mich.) fourth goal of the year at 1:03 gave the RedHawks a 3-1 lead. Skating down the left-wing boards, Palmer centered a pass to Guerin, who batted the puck out of the air and in with an OSU defender draped all over his back.

With his second goal of the night, Palmer gave the RedHawks a 4-1 lead at 6:38 of the third as he picked up the rebound of Guerin's shot from the slot and tucked it in, chasing OSU's Palmer from the game in favor of freshman Nick Filion. Senior Matt Christie (Ajax, Ontario) was credited with second assist as he extended his point streak to three games.

At 7:30 of the period, Ohio State's Tommy Goebel took advantage of a Miami turnover and tallied an unassisted marker, his sixth of the season, as the Buckeyes cut the Miami lead to 4-2.

Miami sealed the victory with just 2.5 seconds remaining in the contest as junior Ryan Jones (Chatham, Ontario) extended his point streak to a career-long eight games with an empty-net goal that was assisted by sophomore Raymond Eichenlaub (Wilmette, Ill.) and Effinger.

Effinger kicked aside 25 saves in his first start since Nov. 10 to earn the victory and improve to 5-2-0. Joseph Palmer was tagged with the loss and dropped to 5-7-2 after he stopped just 18 of 22 shots sent his way. Miami was 1-for-7 on the power play while Ohio State was 0-for-5.

Miami and Ohio State complete the two-game home-and-home series on Saturday night at Steve Cady Arena at 8:05 p.m. The game will be televised live by CSTV.

NOTES: SO Alexandre Lacombe was whistled for the first penalty of his career (hooking) at 16:36 of the first period ... Palmer recorded the fourth multi-point game of his career ... Effinger's assist was the second of his career.