March 28, 2009
Miami Postgame
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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Two Justin Mercier goals in the second period and a rock-solid effort by freshman Cody Reichard in goal helped Miami University 's ice hockey team beat Minnesota-Duluth, 2-1, Saturday and gain a berth in its first-ever NCAA Frozen Four.
It's the first time any Miami athletic team in any sport has ever qualified for the semifinal round of a national championship tournament. The RedHawks will play in Washington D.C.'s Verizon Center on Thursday, April 9, at either 5 or 8:30 p.m. against either Cornell or Bemidji State.
A methodical, possession-style game by Miami stymied the Bulldogs, cutting them down from 30 shots in Friday's 5-4 thriller against Princeton to just 26 Saturday. Conversely, Miami took only 19 shots, sending two past UMD goalie Alex Stalock.
The first period was scoreless, resulting from stellar goaltending by Miami's Cody Reichard. The RedHawks' Vincent LoVerde was penalized midway through the period, but Reichard came up with two big saves during that two-minute span to keep the game scoreless. Reichard got some help with only 40 seconds left in the period when a Bulldog shot hit the cross bar. In the first period, UMD outshot the RedHawks, 6-1. Miami put its first and only shot on goal with 3:40 left on the clock.
Mercier scored twice in the second period, the first one on an unassisted shorthanded goal at 8:42. It appeared that UMD had tied the game at 10:41, but the Bulldog goal was waived off because of interference. Mercier tallied his second goal, a power play, on a pass from Chris Wideman with just four minutes left to widen Miami's lead to 2-0. There was considerably more action in the penalty box as well as eight penalties were called, including six on the RedHawks. Fortunately for Miami, Reichard was on top of his game, stopping 11 more shots during the second stanza.
Thanks to an extra attacker which came as a result of Duluth pulling its goalie, the Bulldogs cut the RedHawk margin to 2-1 with a goal by MacGregor Sharp with just 2:05 remaining on the clock. However, Miami's defense took over for the remainder of the game, successfully deflecting numerous rushes by UMD in the last 125 seconds.
FROZEN FOUR INFORMATION
TICKETS
Tickets for the Frozen Four are available by calling the Miami Athletic Ticket Office at 1-866-MUHAWKS. In order to be eligible to purchase tickets to the Frozen Four fans must be an active member of the Red & White Club. Frozen Four ticket orders will be processed under the following Red & White Club guidelines:
$2,500 and above = maximum of six (6) tickets per membership;
$1,000-$2,499 = maximum of four (4) tickets per membership;
$250-$999 = maximum of two (2) tickets per membership;
Seat locations will be filled based on active membership level of the Red & White Club. The Frozen Four ticket price is $177 for an all-session ticket (two semifinal games and the national championship game).
The Miami Athletic Ticket Office will be open on Sunday, March 29th from 2-3 p.m. to process orders and answer questions about the Red & White Club.
TRAVEL PACKAGES
Miami University will be providing travel packages to fans wanting to travel to the Frozen Four in Washington D.C. More information regarding the travel packages will be available on Tournament Central on MURedHawks.com by Monday, March 30th. Travel packages will not include game tickets. Game tickets must be ordered through the Miami Athletic Ticket Office.
GAME NOTES:
UMD had its school-record six-game post-season winning streak snapped by Miami.
Miami's nationally ranked penalty kill squad blanked Duluth's tremendous power-play unit, blanking them in six attempts.
Miami has an all-time record of 4-6 in NCAA Tournament games. The RedHawks are 4-4 under Coach Enrico Blasi.
Miami's winning percentage of .690 over the last four seasons (105-43-14) is the best in college hockey.
All-Tournament Team: Justin Mercier, Cameron Schilling and Cody Reichard all were named to the West Regional All-Tournament squad, with Mercier named Most Valuable Player.
Saturday's meeting between Miami and UMD was the first time the two schools had met on the ice.
A total of 7,554 were in attendance at Mariucci Arena for the Miami-UMD game.
Miami's season record improved to 22-12-5. Minnesota-Duluth finished its 2008-09 campaign with a mark of 22-13-8.
Other NCAA Tournament scores on Saturday: New Hampshire 6, North Dakota 5 (OT) ... Bemidji State 5, Notre Dame 1 ... Boston University 8, Ohio State 3 ... Cornell 3, Northeastern 2 ... Vermont 3, Air Force 2 (2OT) (Vermont advances to Frozen Four).
Sunday's NCAA games: Bemidji State vs. Cornell (winner plays Miami)... Boston U. vs. New Hampshire (winner plays Vermont).
