Miami University
Lake Superior State
No. 1 Miami Blanks Lake Superior State, 2-0
2/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Feb. 5, 2010
By Drew Davis
OXFORD, Ohio - No. 1 Miami moved one step closer to clinching the CCHA regular-season championship with a 2-0 victory over Lake Superior State Friday night at Steve Cady Arena at the Goggin Ice Center. The RedHawks' magic number to clinch their first conference championship since the 2005-06 season is now 10 points.
Sophomore goalie Cody Reichard broke the Miami record with his fifth shutout of the season by making a career-high 33 saves. His previous career high came last season, Oct. 24, 2008, against Notre Dame when he stopped 29 shots. Junior forward Carter Camper scored the game-winner at the end of the first period, his 11th goal of the season.
Miami moves to 19-4-6 overall and 16-1-4-2 in the CCHA while Lake Superior State's record stands at 14-10-5 overall and 9-9-3-2 in the CCHA.
With just 20 seconds remaining in the opening period, Lake Superior State moved into the Miami zone and wrapped around the net. Tommy Wingels made a steal and passed ahead to Camper along the right boards. Camper moved up the ice toward the goal, faked a pass to his left, brought it back, faked right, and fired a wrist shot that snuck between the goaltender's glove and left pad and trickled into the net to give the RedHawks the 1-0 lead at 19:51 of the first period.
Despite the lead, the RedHawks were outshot 17-10 in the first period, the most shots Miami has surrendered in a stanza since it allowed 19 in the second period Oct. 17, 2009 at New Hampshire.
"There were times where we weren't sharp with the puck," head coach Enrico Blasi said. "But the game had great speed. There were good plays all over the ice."
In the second period the RedHawk defense regained composure, limiting the Lakers to just nine shots during the frame while the offense attempted to take control with 14 shots on goal. Despite the shot advantage in shots, the RedHawks were unable to extend their lead as the game went to the third period still 1-0 in favor of the Red and White.
The back-and-forth third period yielded similar results to the second period over the first 19:59. Junior forward Andy Miele then added an empty-net goal with just 0.2 seconds remaining in the game when he took a long pass from Jarod Palmer and skated the puck into the net. Reilly Smith earned the second assist.
In the end, Lake Superior outshot the RedHawks 33-32, but Miami held the advantage where it counts with the 2-0 score. For his efforts in goal, Reichard earned the Perani Cup first star. Camper earned the game's second star and Lake Superior goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson was named the third, as he made 30 stops in net.
Miami and Lake Superior State meet again on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Steve Cady Arena, as the RedHawks go for the weekend sweep.
