Jan. 21, 2012

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OXFORD, Ohio - Senior goaltender Connor Knapp earned his 10th career shutout to fuel No. 20 Miami Hockey to a 4-0 win over No. 8 Western Michigan Saturday night at Steve Cady Arena as the RedHawks scored three third-period goals to break open a tight game. With the victory, Miami (14-10-2, 10-8-2-1 CCHA) completed the weekend sweep of the Broncos (12-9-5, 9-6-3-3 CCHA) after a 3-1 win Friday.

The sweep was Miami's third this season, all in league play, but first at home. With the victory, the `Hawks also picked up their 12th win in the last 13 meetings with the Broncos in Oxford as WMU earned a tie last year. The Red and White moved into a tie with Western Michigan for second place in the CCHA after the weekend sweep as well and are just two points behind first-place Ohio State.

Knapp stopped all 22 shots that came his way while the RedHawks were held to just 19 shots on goal, their third fewest this season. The win was Knapp's sixth straight while he has allowed just three goals in his last five starts, which includes his only two shutouts of the year, while giving up just one goal in the other three. Miami's penalty kill was also strong, going a perfect 5-for-5 on the night. The RedHawks were 0-for-3 on their power play opportunities.

"The game tonight, you could tell there wasn't a lot to give. Both teams were being stingy and playing good team defense, not giving you much room to do anything," Miami head coach Enrico Blasi said. "All in all it was probably a lot tighter game than the score indicated. I thought our guys played good tonight, and this is a huge win for us."

Junior forward Reilly Smith put Miami on the board when he extended his point streak to a season-long five games by scoring at 12:13 of the first period for his CCHA-leading 18th goal of the season and fourth on the weekend. Freshman forward Austin Czarnik won a faceoff in the offensive zone, dishing the puck back to Smith, who quickly wristed it past WMU goaltender Frank Slubowski to give the RedHawks a 1-0 advantage.

The game was a defensive battle for much of the way until freshman forward Jimmy Mullin tallied a breakaway goal to give the `Hawks a 2-0 lead 4:33 into the third period. After Knapp made a stellar save on a WMU 2-on-1 break, freshman defenseman Ben Paulides connected with a streaking Mullin on a stretch pass for a clean break on the WMU net. Mullin deeked by Lubowski's right side before sliding the puck under the Bronco netminder's legs for his eighth goal of the season and third in his last three games. Knapp earned his third career assist and first this year on the play while Mullin extended his point streak to a career-best four games.

"We have just been finding the back of the net," Mullin said of his line, which also includes Smith and Czarnik. "Everybody has just been clicking and Knapp is making big saves. The team is relying on us to score goals and that's what we are doing, so we have to keep that up."

The RedHawks then doubled their advantage in a span of 24 seconds. First senior forward Alden Hirschfeld scored a breakaway goal of his own when freshman forward Cody Murphy found Hirschfeld skating alone down the middle of the ice. Hirschfeld carried the puck in on the far side before depositing the puck top-shelf with the backhand to beat Slubowski and put the Red and White ahead 3-0 at 12:16 of the third period. Freshman forward Blake Coleman also earned an assist on Hirschfeld's eighth goal of the year.

Miami fans had very little time to celebrate the goal as freshman forward Tyler Biggs tapped in a pass from senior forward Trent Vogelhuber on the far post to push the `Hawks lead to 4-0 just 24 seconds after Hirschfeld's marker. Biggs took the initial shot on net from the left faceoff circle, but Slubowski saved it - one of his 15 on the night. The rebound went to Vogelhuber, who fought off defenders and shoved the puck to Biggs on the backdoor for an easy goal, his fifth of the season.

Smith's first-period goal turned out to be the game-winner as he has scored each of Miami's last four game-winning goals which have come in the RedHawks' last five games. He now has seven game-winners this year, which ties for second in single-season history, while his 11 career game-winners ties for third all-time at Miami. He sits on 99 career points, one shy of being the 47th RedHawk to top the century mark in points.

Smith goes for 100 points and the RedHawks look to keep rolling next weekend as they host Northern Michigan at Steve Cady Arena Friday and Saturday night.