Miami University
Michigan (Championship)
RedHawks Drop Heartbreaker to Michigan in CCHA Championship Game
3/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
March 22, 2008
Detroit, Mich. - In a hard fought battle from the opening puck drop all the way to the final horn, the RedHawks were unable to overcome a two-goal deficit and travel back to Oxford with the Mason Cup.
Junior goaltender Jeff Zatkoff stood on his head to keep the RedHawks in the Championship contest, stopping 24 of the 26 shots Michigan put on net, including two saves on Michigan breakaways. Zatkoff was named to the All-Tournament team for his efforts.
Showing his offensive prowess from the blue line once again was junior defenseman, Alec Martinez. With only 39 seconds remaining in the game, Martinez was able to blast a shot past Michigan's Billy Sauer, giving him his second goal of the tournament. Martinez was honored as one of the two defensemen on the All-Tournament team.
Also earning All-Tournament accolades was senior captain Ryan Jones. Though he registered just one assist in the two games, Jones' gritty play and leadership kept the Red and White poised during the weekend.
Michigan opened the game's scoring nearly half way through the second period, as freshman Aaron Palushaj one-timed a pass from Matt Rust behind Jeff Zatkoff. The goal was Palushaj's 38th point of the year, tying him with Northern Michigan's Mark Olver for the CCHA rookie scoring lead.
At the 10 minute mark of the third period, Michigan pushed its lead to two goals, as the Wolverines' Brandon Naurato slid a puck into the back of Miami's net after the Maize and Blue won an offensive zone faceoff. The score was only Naurato's seventh of the season.
As Miami had done the night before, the RedHawks scored within the last minute of the game with an extra attacker on the ice. Scoring for MU was Alec Martinez, netting his second goal in as many nights. Martinez is tied with Providence's Matt Taormina for the nation's lead in goals by a defenseman with nine.
The RedHawks worked feverishly over the last 40 seconds of the game, but as the contest ended, Michigan still held the 2-1 edge, winning its eighth league title and first since the 2004-05 season.
The RedHawks will learn their NCAA tournament fate at 11:30am Sunday morning (March 23rd) on ESPN2. The NCAA Ice Hockey selection show will air live at 11:30am EDT on ESPN2. During the show, 16 teams will be selected to play in the NCAA tournament. Six Automatic Qualification bids will be awarded to the following schools:
Air Force - Atlantic Hockey
Niagara - CHA
Michigan - CCHA
Harvard - ECAC
Boston College - Hockey East
Denver - WCHA
At-large bids will be awarded to the remaining ten teams. The at-large bids are selected based upon the Pairwise Ranking (http://www.uscho.com/rankings/pwr.php). Despite losing tonight's CCHA Championship game, the RedHawks are second in the Pairwise rankings only to the Michigan Wolverines.
The NCAA tournament will begin next Friday at four regional sites. The regional sites with corresponding game dates are:
West Regional - Colorado Springs, CO (March 28-29)
East Regional - Albany, NY (March 28-29)
Midwest Regional - Madison, WI (March 29-30)
Northeast Regional - Worcester, MA (Mach 29-30)
The Miami Athletic Ticket office will be open on Sunday, March 23rd from 1-3pm to take phone orders for the NCAA Regional Miami will be selected to play in. Regional tickets will be made available based on a tiered system, with active Red and White Club members and season ticket holders receiving priority. Red and White Club members who have given at least $2,500 are eligible to purchase up to six regional tickets, while those who have given between $1,000 - $2,499 can purchase a maximum of four tickets, and those who have given between $50 - $999 are able to purchase up to two tickets. 2007-2008 Miami Ice Hockey season ticket holders also are eligible to purchase up to two tickets.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:
Forward - Matt Siddell - Northern Michigan
Forward - Ryan Jones - Miami
Forward - Tim Miller - Michigan
Defense - Mark Mitera - Michigan
Defense - Alec Martinez - Miami
Goaltender - Jeff Zatkoff - Miami
TOURNAMENT MVP: Tim Miller - Michigan
ATTENDANCE: 17,213
