Miami University
Lake Superior State
No. 16 Miami's Comeback Bid Falls Short
10/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Oct. 28, 2011
OXFORD, Ohio - No. 16 Miami mounted a furious comeback over the final 30 minutes of play, but couldn't overcome an early 4-0 deficit as the RedHawks were swept at home for the first time since 2006-07, falling 5-3 to No. 18 Lake Superior State Friday night at Steve Cady Arena.
With the loss, Miami falls to 2-6-0 overall and 0-4-0 in the CCHA while the Lakers move to 7-1-0 overall and 5-1-0 in the CCHA and remain in first place in the conference, after topping the `Hawks 3-2 in overtime Thursday.
"I thought we did a decent job of trying to get ourselves back into the game," head coach Enrico Blasi said. "It just seems like every time we make a mistake right now, we are paying for it. There's no real good explanation on why this keeps happening, but we need to continue to work hard and try to play through it."
Lake Superior State jumped on the `Hawks early when Nick McParland, who scored twice in Thursday's game, took a pass between the circles and sent a low wrist shot past Miami senior goaltender Connor Knapp for the 1-0 LSSU lead at 8:45 of the first period. The Lakers added another tally just over four minutes later when Kyle Jean finished off a one-timer from McParland on a 3-on-1 in transition to take a 2-0 lead.
Lake Superior State continued to pour on the goals as they netted two more early in the second period at 2:20 and 7:08 of the second period. After falling behind 4-0, Miami made a change in goal, substituting senior Cody Reichard for Knapp.
The RedHawks charged back on the penalty kill as senior co-captain Alden Hirschfeld scored a short-handed goal, his first tally of the season, with assists from junior Steven Spinell and senior Patrick Tiesling. Hirschfeld got behind the LSSU defense, made a series of moves and pushed the puck between Laker goalie Kevin Kapalka's legs to chip into the lead at 4-1 at 11:19 of the second frame. Tiesling was whistled for a penalty immediately after the goal for checking from behind, taking a five-minute major and a receiving a game misconduct.
During the Lakers' five-minute man advantage, Miami continued to pressure with a strong forecheck, scoring another shortie and killing off the entire power play. Freshman Tyler Biggs scored his first-career goal with assists from Spinell and senior Trent Vogelhuber. Vogelhuber poked the puck ahead to Biggs at the blue line, who carried it into the zone behind the Laker defense. Biggs sent a hard shot from the right side that Kapalka couldn't hold onto. The rebound bounced away into the faceoff circle to Kapalka's left and Spinell, trailing the play, picked up the loose puck, sent a no-look, backhand pass to the other circle where Biggs, who had circled the net, picked it up and buried it to pull to within 4-2 at 15:42 of the second period.
Miami closed to within one with 6:12 remaining the third period when freshman Blake Coleman stole the puck at the offensive blue line, then used a move to get between two defenders, faked to his right, moved back to the left and beat Kapalka high, glove side to make it 4-3, Lakers. It was also Coleman's first collegiate score.
As the RedHawks tried desperately to score the equalizer, pushing all five players deep into the Lake Superior State zone, the Lakers' Domenic Monardo intercepted a pass at the point and raced up ice for a breakaway goal at 18:03 of the final stanza, securing the 5-3 victory.
Miami led in shots 31-30, tying a season high for shots, despite the loss, while finishing 0-for-2 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. Knapp made 11 saves while Reichard stopped 14-of-15 shots on goal. At the other end of the ice, Kapalka made 28 saves to earn the victory.
"We do show signs of being a pretty good team. I believe this is going to be a very good team when this is all said and done," Blasi said. "We have to dig deep and somehow find it. There are no easy answers, you have to show up every day and fight the fight. We have some disconnect going on, and we need to get everyone together."
Miami tries to snap a five-game losing streak next weekend, Nov. 4-5 at Alaska when the RedHawks look for their first CCHA win of the year.
--MURedHawks.com--
