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OXFORD, Ohio – The 11th-ranked Miami University hockey team turned Saturday’s series finale against No. 17 Ohio State into a shooting gallery, outshooting the Buckeyes 62-20 in an eventual 2-1 win at Steve ‘Coach’ Cady Arena on Saturday.
The RedHawks (3-1) held a 48-11 edge in shots in the final 40 minutes and attempted a total of 104 shots to post their third-straight win and sweep the home-and-home series with the Buckeyes (1-3). The 62 shots on goal are MU’s most since piling up 60 in a 6-1 win over Michigan State on Jan. 17, 2009.
After Friday night’s contest saw two Ohio State players get tossed with game misconducts, Scott Dornbrock got disqualified just 1:36 into the series finale with a five-minute interference penalty. The first half of the power play featured a pair of Miami chances as Austin Czarnik fed Blake Coleman during a two-on-one rush for a shot that Christian Frey stopped. Alex Gacek also nearly scored by catching Frey out of the net after he played the puck, but the OSU goalie recovered to make the save.
The Buckeyes did score with under a minute left on the five minute power play when Anthony Greco gathered a rebound off Tanner Fritz’ shot and fired it in to the top corner to make it a 1-0 contest at the 5:38 mark.
After killing off the final 59 seconds of the major penalty, Miami started relentlessly pressuring the Ohio State defense. With about eight minutes remaining in the frame, the RedHawks spent two solid shifts in the Buckeyes end, firing a barrage of shots that either were blocked by the defense or stopped by Frey. The Red and White were shorthanded again with 4:55 left, but managed to kill of the Buckeyes’ power play to keep it a 1-0 deficit after 20 minutes of play.
The RedHawks thoroughly dominated the second period, outshooting the Buckeyes 25-5. Miami created a pair of close opportunities early in the second period. A blocked shot landed near the crease with Alex Wideman in the area, but he couldn’t get through traffic to get a stick on the puck. On the next shift, Riley Barber fired a shot that deflected off an OSU defender and slipped just wide of the far post. Later in the frame, a loose puck bounced in front of the OSU crease to Czarnik, who wired a shot that Frey turned aside.
Miami finally found the back of the net with 8:02 to go in the period when sustained pressure moved the puck back to Louie Belpedio at the left point. The freshman wristed a shot through traffic for his second goal of the season, evening the score at 1-1. Justin Greenberg drew the primary assist after finding Belpedio at the blue line while Cody Murphy’s forechecking created his first point of the season with a secondary assist.
Alex Wideman put the RedHawks in front just 1:40 later when he corralled a rebound of a Czarnik shot and wrapped it around the other side of the goal to make it a 2-1 contact. Coleman also assisted on the play by setting up the goal. The assist for Czarnik moved him into a tie with John Ciotti and Dave McClintock for 19th in school history with 126 career points.
It appeared the RedHawks extended their lead a few minutes later when Czarnik and Lemirande crashed the net and fired a loose puck in. However, the officials waved the goal off after a video review, which left the Red and White on top 2-1 after 40 minutes of play.
The third period featured the same dominant possession game for Miami as the previous 40 minutes. Shots in the final frame were 23-6 in favor of the RedHawks, but Frey stood on his head to turn every single one aside.
Ohio State’s first shot of the third did not come until nearly 10 minutes in when a Nick Oddo gathered a giveaway in the Miami end and drove in down the slot, but he was denied by the right pad of Jay Williams. The Buckeyes began pressuring as the period wore on, firing five of their six third period shots in the final seven minutes. Despite facing only sporadic action throughout the night, Williams held his ground and did not allow OSU to tie it up, ultimately finishing with 19 saves in his third-straight victory.
An even more impressive part of Miami’s 62-20 edge in shots was the fact that it only spent two minutes on the power play, going 0-for-1 with the man advantage. Ohio State’s lone goal came during its five-minute power play and the Buckeyes finished the night 1-for-3 with the extra man.
The RedHawks return to the rink on Friday when they open a two-game series at home against St. Lawrence. Puck drops at 7:35 p.m.
