Nov. 20, 2010

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Senior forward Pat Cannone had a hand in all three goals for the No. 6 Miami hockey team while strong special teams play and a shutout by junior goalie Connor Knapp led the RedHawks to a 3-0 victory over Bowling Green Saturday night at BGSU Ice Arena. Combined with Friday's 4-3 win, Miami (8-3-3, 6-2-2-1 CCHA) earned a sweep of the Falcons (5-9-0, 2-8-0-0 CCHA), its second broom-job of the year, while winning its ninth straight over BGSU and 16th in the teams' last 17 meetings.

Knapp recorded his first whitewash of the year and seventh of his career as he needed to make just nine saves but stopped a pair of Falcon breakaways during the game. The 'Hawks controlled the contest, outshooting Bowling Green, 38-9, with the nine shots on goal setting a school record for the fewest shots allowed in a game. The previous low mark was 12 in 1981.

Miami went 2-for-6 on the power play while tallying all three goals with a man advantage. Cannone finished with a season-high three points, as he has a point in five straight games now and a goal in four of his last five games, including both this weekend. Senior captain Carter Camper continues to lead the nation in points with a goal and an assist Saturday while classmate Andy Miele dished out two assists for the second straight night.

Despite Miami dominating the opening period, the teams went to the locker room scoreless marking just the fourth time this year the 'Hawks didn't find the net in the first frame and first time in over a month. Miami held a 12-1 edge in shots in the stanza, as BGSU didn't get a shot on target until over 14 minutes into game. The 'Hawks appeared to score on the power play just over 13 minutes into the period when Cannone found the twine but Miele was called for goaltender interference just before, negating the score.

For the second straight night, Miami exploded in the second period as the RedHawks found the back of the net twice in a span of 1:44. The Red and White broke the deadlock at 10:44 of the second period with an extra attacker goal on a delayed BGSU penalty. Junior Chris Wideman sent in a drive that kicked out to Cannone, who slammed home the rebound top shelf. On the ensuing power play sophomore forward Reilly Smith put in the puck as Camper fed Smith between the circles and his wrister beat Falcon goalie Andrew Hammond for a 2-0 Miami advantage.

"The first goal I don't know if it was me or Patty (Cannone) but we were just whacking to get it in," said Smith, who was originally credited with the first goal. "That was a big momentum swing because we scored that 6-on-5 with a pulled goalie and right after that we had a power play. They were really tired because we had the puck for the whole delayed penalty so I was able to get free and bang one in five-hole."

Early in the third period Bowling Green had a 5-on-3 power play for just over a minute but the 'Hawks successfully killed both penalties, marking the 21st straight kill for Miami as Bowling Green went 0-for-6 with a man advantage on the night. The RedHawks then got their chance at a 5-on-3 after a game disqualification was followed by a high-sticking call against the Falcons and Miami took advantage.

Cannone started the play as he passed to Miele down low. He then sent the puck across the goal mouth to an open Camper who buried the pack in the yawning cage before Hammond could recover as Miami took the 3-0 lead. Camper's goal at 12:45 of the final frame was his 12th of the year, tying him for the national lead in goals.

"We played well tonight. We were physical, very good defensively and Connor made some big saves when they had their chances," head coach Enrico Blasi said. "Our power play was good, our penalty kill was good so it was a good effort for the RedHawks tonight."

Miami's 3-0 win moved its all-time record to 576-576-79, marking the first time the Red and White have had a program record of .500 or better since midway through the 1984-85 season.

The RedHawks stay on the road next weekend when they look to move their all-time record above .500 at Western Michigan for a league series Nov. 26-27 with puck drop set for 7:35 p.m. ET both nights. Miami will also see the Falcons again Jan. 14-15 in Oxford.

--MURedHawks.com--