March 17, 2012

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Postgame Press Conference

DETROIT - Junior forward Reilly Smith and freshman forward Austin Czarnik each recorded three points to lead the No. 7/8 Miami hockey team to a 4-1 win over Bowling Green Saturday afternoon in the CCHA third-place game at Joe Louis Arena. With the win, the RedHawks (24-14-2) claimed third place in the CCHA Tournament for the third time in program history, also doing so in 2004 and 2010, while Miami extended its unbeaten streak against the Falcons (14-25-5) to 14 games (13-0-1).

Smith, who was named to the CCHA All-Tournament Team for the second straight year, finished with a goal and two assists for his sixth game this year with three or more points while he extended his point streak to a career-long 10 games. Czarnik tied a career high with both three assists and three points while stretching his point streak to a career-long six games.

"We were opportunistic on our chances tonight," head coach Enrico Blasi said. "When you've got a guy like Austin Czarnik on your team, he can change the momentum of the game. When Reilly's making plays with Austin, it just spreads through the rest of our team."

Unlike in Friday's semifinal loss to Western Michigan, Miami came out firing and grabbed the lead 6:51 into the first frame off the stick of freshman forward Alex Wideman. Classmate Blake Coleman put the puck on net and a scrum ensued in front of the cage where Wideman was able to poke the puck past BGSU netminder Andrew Hammond to make it 1-0 on his fifth goal of the year. Junior defenseman Steven Spinell picked up the second assist.

The RedHawks doubled their advantage just before the opening period ended as junior defenseman Joe Hartman beat the buzzer with his first goal of the year. Smith took a feed from Czarnik and circled around the net with time winding down. He then fed Hartman in the circle to Hammond's left, where Hartman fired a one-timer that found the twine with just half a second remaining in the first frame to make it 2-0.

Just 4:04 into the second stanza, Miami made it a 3-0 game as Alex's brother, senior defenseman Chris Wideman, scored on the power play. Czarnik had the puck down low and passed up top to Smith, who crossed to Wideman inside the blue line. The elder Wideman fired a laser that whizzed past Hammond for his fourth tally of the year.

The Falcons got on the board 9:24 into the final frame to make it 3-1. Camden Wojtala passed to Cameron Sinclair from behind the net. Sinclair, nearly level with the goal line below the circle to senior goalie Cody Reichard's left, fired a sharp-angle shot that Coleman attempted to knock down in front of the net but actually batted into the goal for the BGSU score.

Smith shut down any chance of a Falcon comeback however, scoring his 30th goal of the year with 6:06 left in the game. Spinell fired a laser from the point that Smith got a stick on to redirect underneath Hammond's pad for a 4-1 lead. Czarnik picked up the second assist on the play for his third of the night. Smith's 30 goals are a career high and rank second nationally while also moving him into seventh on Miami's single-season goals list.

"We had a different mindset today," Smith said, comparing today's game to Friday's semifinal. "We focused on slowing the puck down and making Bowling Green come to us; then finding the open man. Yesterday we were forcing the puck too much. We're happy with the result and hopefully we get a good seed in the NCAA Tournament."

The RedHawks finished with a 33-22 edge in shots as Reichard, making his first start since Feb. 11, stopped 21 shots. Hammond totaled 29 saves for the Falcons, who went 0-for-4 on the power play. Miami was 1-for-2 on the man advantage.

The RedHawks now await their fate in the NCAA Tournament, which will be revealed Sunday at noon on ESPNU with the NCAA Hockey Selection Show. The RedHawks are holding an official watch party for the selection show at Brick Street in uptown Oxford (36 E. High Street), beginning at 11:30 a.m. Fans are encouraged to attend and see where Miami will head for the NCAA Tournament next weekend.