Dec. 7, 2008
Final Stats
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Miami tied a season high for goals as the RedHawk earned their third consecutive sweep with a 7-3 victory over Western Michigan in Lawson Ice Arena.
Miami was forced to put its NCAA leading penalty kill unit to the test in the first when Carter Camper was called for obstruction hooking at 7:12 and Justin Mercier picked up a contact to the head high sticking call 1:20 later. The RedHawks killed off both penalties and continued their streak of penalty kills on the road.
The RedHawks would use the momentum of the 5-on-3 kill and earned their own 5-on-3 advantage. The Broncos were able to kill off the first penalty but Pat Cannone would capitalize on the man advantage. Camper fired a shot wide of the net that was picked up by Mercier, who worked in over to Cannone. The sophomore fired a shot that hit Western Michigan goalie Jerry Kuhn and went into the net.
The Red and White were not finished in the first as Camper netted his four power-play goalin the final minute of the first frame. The goal was cerdited to Jarod Palmer but after a reivew was changed to Camper.
Justin Vaive would get things going early in the second period when he tipped in a shot by Chris Wideman from the blue line. Andy Miele picked up the second assist as he worked the puck to Wideman. Tommy Wingels earned his second goal in as many nights at 12:04 of the second period. Camper worked the puck over to Mercier who found Wingels.
Camper would extend the Miami lead to four, when Wingels tipped the puck to Matt Tomassoni, who found Camper with a pass from the slot in front of Connor Knapp. Camper was waiting at the Western Michigan blue line and took it in and beat Kuhn stick side.
After a goal by Steve Silver for Western Michigan, Gary Steffes would move the lead back to four with 40 seconds remaining in the second period. Vaive worked the puck to Miele, who passed it over Steffes who found the net.
Miami and Western Michigan would trade third period goals when Patrick Galivan scored at 4:40 into the third period but Camper completed the hat trick with a goal at 16:57 of the third frame. Mercier and Wingels picked up the assists
Next up for the RedHawks, they will return to Steve Cady Arena for their final home series of 2008 as the Red and White take on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Dec. 13-14. Saturday's game begins at 7:05 p.m. and will be broadcasted on the Ohio News Network. The game on Sunday starts at 4:35 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU.
Game Notes
Brian Kaufman and Jarod Palmer each played in their 100th career game on Sunday. The RedHawk pair entered the game with very similar numbers. Palmer has 24 goals and 50 assists while Kaufman entered the matchup with 23 goals and 50 assists.
The game was the first Sunday game for the RedHawks of the season and the first for the Red and White since Dec. 30, 2007. Under head coach Enrico Blasi Miami holds a record of 7-5-0.
Miami tied a season high for shots in a period with 19 attempts on net in the first frame.
Carter Camper tied a career high with four points with his first career hat trick.
Chris Wideman set a new career high for with three assists. Wideman now leads the RedHawks in helper with 14 on the campaign.
Justin Mercier set a season high for points as he picked up three assist on the day and now has 88 career points..
