Miami Ohio University Athletics
Miami opens CCHA play against Buckeyes
10/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Oct. 17, 2007
OXFORD, Ohio -
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REVIEWING VERMONT SERIES: A steller effort by Miami goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, the CCHA Player of the Week at his position, helped give the second-ranked RedHawks a sweep in their season-opening series against Vermont. MU won Friday night's opener, 2-1, with all of the scoring taking place in the third period. Junior forward Justin Mercier tallied the first goal and senior captain Ryan Jones scored the eventual game-winner. On Saturday night, Nino Musitelli and Gary Steffes helped Miami jump out to a 2-0 lead. Vermont cut the lead to 2-1 at the beginning of the second period, but Alec Martinez and Tommy Wingels answered that with back-to-back goals to give the RedHawks a 4-1 victory. The season-opening sweep was Miami's first perfect start since the 2004-05 season.
SCOUTING OHIO STATE: Coach John Markell's Buckeyes (2-0-0) opened their 2007-08 season by winning the championship of the Lefty McFadden College Hockey Invitational in Dayton. Ohio State defeated Mercyhurst, 2-1, on Friday, then upset 14th-ranked Wisconsin, 5-3, in the title game on Saturday.
For their performances over the weekend, Ohio State's Peter Boyd and Kyle Hood were named CCHA Rookie and Defenseman of the Week, respectively, by the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Boyd scored the game-winning goal against Mercyhurst in his first collegiate game, breaking a 1-1 tie midway through the third period. Against Wisconsin, Boyd had the primary assist on senior John Dingle's late second-period goal that broke a 3-3 tie and stood as the game-winner in OSU's 5-3 victory. Boyd had eight shots on the weekend and helped the Buckeye power play convert 4-of-11 (.364) chances in the tournament. Hood blocked three shots in the win over Mercyhurst. Against Wisconsin in the championship game, he assisted on the first two Buckeye goals, as Ohio State jumped out to a 2-0 lead less than four minutes into the game. His two assists matched his career high, set three times earlier.
Seven different players scored Ohio State's seven goals last weekend. Beside Boyd, Hood and Dingle, other Buckeye goal scorers included Matt McIlvane (F), Patrick Schafer (F), Corey Elkins (F), Tommy Goebel (F) and Sergio Somma (F).
Sophomore Joseph Palmer started both games in net for OSU, showing a saves percentage of .931 through his first two games of the season. Seniors Jason DeSantis and Johann Kroll key the Buckeye defensive corps.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT OHIO STATE HOCKEY SID LEANN PARKER. Email: parker.387@osu.edu; Phone: 614/688-0294)
THE MIAMI-OHIO STATE SERIES: Miami and Ohio State meet for the 118th and 119th times this weekend, with the Buckeyes holding the series lead by a narrow 56-51-10 margin. OSU holds an even closer edge in CCHA regular-season play, 46-45-8. At Columbus, Ohio State has a 34-16-6 lead, and, at Oxford, Miami leads 31-20-4. At neutral sites, OSU leads 4-2. The Buckeyes dominated the series in the early years, winning 26 and tying three of the first 35 games against MU. Since November of 1991, the skate has been on the other foot, with Miami holding a 37-21-7 edge. During the Enrico Blasi coaching era, the RedHawks show 15 wins, 17 losses and four ties against Ohio State. The last time the two teams played was Jan. 21, 2007, with Miami winning at home by a score of 2-1.
LIMITED NUMBER OF TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR SUNDAY'S GAME: A limited number of reserved and standing-room-only tickets for the Oct. 21 game will go on sale at Goggin Ice Center's box office Sunday afternoon, beginning at 5:00 p.m. Reserved ticket prices are $17 for adults and $10 for youth (age 3-17). After all reserved tickets have been sold, standing-room tickets will be made available to adults for $12 and to youth for $10. Season tickets in both the club level and in the lower bowl are sold out for 2007-08, but those interested in placing their name on a waiting list for 2008-09 should call the ticket office at 513-529-4295. Those interested in group packages for selected ice hockey games in Steve Cady Arena at the Goggin Ice Center should call the RedHawks' Sales and Service Office at 513-529-4104. MIAMI 17-5-1 AT HOME LAST TWO SEASONS: With its sweep of Vermont, Miami improved its record to 17-5-1 record (.761) over the last two seasons at Steve Cady Arena (at Goggin Ice Center), including a 9-1-1 record (.864) in its last 11 games at home.
FOUR EQUALS 34-0-1 : Miami has accumulated a remarkable 34-0-1 record over the last three seasons when has it scored four goals or more. The last time the RedHawks lost a game when tallying at least four goals was the final game of the 2004-05 season, a 5-4 overtime loss at Michigan State. During the Enrico Blasi head coaching era--beginning with the 1999-2000 season--Miami has an amazing 108-8-5 record (.913) when the team has scored four goals or more.
DAVIS NAMED TO CHN PRESEASON ALL-STAR TEAM: Miami University ice hockey standout NATE DAVIS (Sr., Rocky River, Ohio) has been named to the College Hockey News's 2007 Preseason All-Star Team. Joining Davis on the All-CHA first-team are Michigan forward Kevin Porter, North Dakota defenseman Taylor Chorney, Boston University defenseman Matt Gilroy, and Michigan State goaltender Jeff Lerg. Three other RedHawk hockey stars--forward Ryan Jones (Sr., Chatham, Ont.), defenseman Alec Martinez (Rochester, MI) and goaltender Jeff Zatkoff (Chesterfield, MI)--are listed by CHN as "Players to Watch."
MIAMI'S FRESHMAN CLASS RANKED SEVENTH BEST: Coach Enrico Blasi's Miami University freshman ice hockey recruiting class has been ranked as the seventh best in the nation, according to Inside College Hockey (INCH). The men's college hockey website lists two members of the RedHawks' first-year class among its best individual players. Carter Camper (Rocky River, OH) is ranked by INCH as the nation's 12th-best freshman forward and Vincent LoVerde (Chicago, IL) is listed as the 19th-best defenseman. Among the best freshman classes, INCH ranks Miami just behind No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 2 Boston University, No. 3 New Hampshire, No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 5 Michigan and No. 6 Michigan State, and ahead of No. 8 Boston College, No. 9 Denver and No. 10 Minnesota.
RETURNING REDHAWKS RANK AMONG CCHA'S 2006-07 LEADERS: Miami's Nathan Davis ranks second among returning CCHA players in points scored a year ago with 50 ... Ryan Jones's 29 goals last season is tops among returning league players ... goaltender Jeff Zatkoff allowed only 2.26 goals against in 2006-07, the best average among returning CCHA stars.
THE OFFENSE 99 POINTS AND COUNTING : With either a goal or assist this weekend vs. Ohio State, Miami senior captain Ryan Jones will become just the 40th player in school history to reach the Century Club for total points (60 g, 39 a- 99 pts.). He was the RedHawks' leading goal scorer in 2006-07 with 29 tallies. Jones has played in every game (119) during his collegiate career and is Miami's all-time leader in game-winning goals with 13.
DAVIS CCHA'S BEST DEFENSIVE FORWARD: Miami's Nathan Davis, a 2007 Hobey Baker Finalist, returns for the 2007-08 season. Davis, a senior forward from Rocky River, Ohio, and the team's alternate captain, scored 21 goals and 29 assists last year. He was tabbed as the CCHA's best defensive forward in 2006-07.
SIX DIFFERENT GOAL SCORERS: In last week's 2-1 and 4-1 victories over Vermont, six different players scored one goal apiece, including Ryan Jones, Nino Musitelli (F, Macomb, MI), Justin Mercier (F, Erie, PA), Alec Martinez, Gary Steffes (F, Grand Blanc, MI) and freshman Tommy Wingels (F, Wilmette, IL).
GAME-WINNING GOALS: Senior captain Ryan Jones scored the game-winning goal in Miami's season-opening 2-1 victory. Sophomore forward Gary Steffes got the short-handed game-winner in the RedHawks' 4-1 triumph on Saturday.
KAUFMAN MU'S POINTS LEADER: Atop Miami's scoring list after week one is junior forward Brian Kaufman (Shoreview, MN). The left winger had an assist in both the 2-1 win and the 4-1 victory.
FRESHMAN SCORERS: Tommy Wingels was Miami's only first-year player who scored a goal vs. Vermont. He was nominated for the CCHA's Freshman Player of the Week Award. RedHawk rookies who contributed one assist apiece last weekend included Carter Camper (Rocky River, OH) and Pat Cannone (Bayport, NY).
PALMER'S BIG NIGHT: Sophomore forward Jarod Palmer (Fridley, MN) had two goals and an assist at Ohio State on Dec. 8, 2006.
POWER-PLAY PRODUCTION: Miami's power-play unit scored on two of its 15 opportunities last weekend versus Vermont. Last season, the RedHawks' registered a .178 (46 of 259) power-play percentage.
MIAMI'S ACTIVE GOAL-SCORING LEADERS: Among active RedHawk players, a pair of seniors--RYAN JONES and NATHAN DAVIS--have scored 115 of the team's 203 career goals.
THE DEFENSE PERFECT PENALTY KILLERS: Miami penalty killers successfully fended off all 11 of Vermont's power-play opportunities last weekend. Last season, the RedHawks yielded its opponents only 27 PPG in 42 games (.107). Including the two games this season and all of 2006-07, Miami has given up a power play only 10.2% of the time.
DEE-FENSE: Miami allowed only two goals to Vermont. That's the fewest surrendered by the RedHawks since a sweep against Canisius last season (Oct. 13-14) when it also yielded two goals (5-1 and 3-1 victories by Miami).
FIRST-PERIOD DOMINANCE: Miami kept Vermont off the scoreboard in the first period in both game one and game two. The RedHawks have scored two goals in each of the three periods this season.
EICHENLAUB'S PERFECT ATTENDANCE RECORD: Junior defenseman Raymond Eichenlaub (Wilmette, IL) has never missed a game during his Miami career, seeing action in 83 consecutive contests.
GANZAK LOVES TO PLAY THE BUCKEYES: Of senior defenseman Mitch Ganzak's (Canton, MI) 73 career points, 11 have been tallied against Ohio State. At Columbus on Jan. 19, 2007, Ganzak recorded his first and only multi-goal effort (two goals) during a 4-4 stalemate with the Buckeyes.
THE GOALTENDERS ZATKOFF MAKES SUCCESSFUL DEBUT: CCHA Goaltender of the Week Jeff Zatkoff was magnificent between the pipes against Vermont. He played all 120 minutes, allowed only two goals (1.00 goals-against average) and posted a .959 saves percentage (47 of 49).
CLIMBING THE LIST: Jeff Zatkoff collected the 29th and 30th victories of his Miami career last weekend. He stands in seventh place on the RedHawks' all-time list for goaltending wins. Though David Burleigh's Miami career record of 60 wins from 1999-2003 might be unreachable, Zatkoff definitely has a chance to surpass Richard Shulmistra's (1990-94) second-place total of 40 career victories.
EFFINGER NO. 1 IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE: Senior Charlie Effinger (Belleville, IL) not only wears Miami's jersey No. 1, he's also No. 1 on the school's all-time goals-against average list (2.38). He has 26 career victories between the pipes in 45 starts (26-12-4).
