Miami University
Northern Michigan
No. 18 RedHawks Fall at NMU, 2-1
12/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Dec. 2, 2011
MARQUETTE, Mich. - Northern Michigan's Brian Nugent scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period to break a 1-1 tie as the Wildcats held on to defeat the No. 18 Miami University hockey team, 2-1, Friday night at the Berry Events Center. The loss snapped the RedHawks' (8-7-2, 4-5-2-1 CCHA) eight-game unbeaten streak, as NMU (6-6-3, 3-5-3-2 CCHA) handed Miami its first loss since Oct. 28 while improving to 5-1-3 at home this season.
Despite getting off to a slow start and being outshot, 13-12, through the first two periods, the `Hawks finished with a 26-17 edge in shots on goal in the loss. Jared Coreau was strong in net for Northern Michigan, finishing with 25 saves while earning his third win of the year. NMU capitalized on their first power play opportunity and finished 1-for-3 on the man advantage while Miami was 0-for-3 on the power play.
The Wildcats struck first on their power play goal off the stick of Tyler Gron 9:39 into the game. Dylan Walchuk fired a shot that senior goalie Cody Reichard saved, but a scrum ensued in front of the net and Gron gathered the loose puck and skated around a held-up Reichard to put the puck in the net for the 1-0 NMU lead. Following the goal, senior goalie Connor Knapp replaced Reichard, which was planned, as Knapp was set to start Friday but a violation of team rules Friday morning kept him on the bench for the first 10 minutes of the game.
Miami did not trail for long however, as junior defenseman Steven Spinell evened the game at 1-1 just 2:05 later on his first goal of the year. Senior forward Alden Hirschfeld gathered the puck behind the net and circled around where he fed senior defenseman Cameron Schilling, who crossed it along the blue line to Spinell. Spinell then fired a laser through traffic to beat Coreau.
The Wildcats had some good looks to grab the lead late in the second period, one a breakaway off an intercepted pass and the other coming while Miami was making a line change, but Knapp was up to the task each time and turned away the shots to keep the score level at 1-1. Miami had a chance of its own in the closing seconds of the middle stanza but couldn't poke the puck in with a scrum in front of Coreau.
Despite outshooting NMU 13-3 over the first 17 minutes and change of the final period, the Wildcats stole back the lead with 2:10 left in the game. Jake Baker sent a blast from the blue line through traffic and his shot was redirected by Nugent, past a screened Knapp to put Northern Michigan on top, 2-1. With 1:10 remaining in the contest, the `Hawks pulled Knapp, who finished with 13 saves in just over 49 minutes of action, but were unable to get the equalizer past Coreau as NMU held on for the victory.
The RedHawks look to earn a weekend split Saturday when they face Northern Michigan again at 7:35 p.m. to wrap up the weekend series.
--MURedHawks.com--
