Miami University
St. Lawrence
Saints Spoil RedHawks? Comeback Bid, 5-4
10/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Follow: @MiamiOH_Hockey | @MiamiRedHawks
OXFORD, Ohio – Two quick goals midway through the third period had the fans at Steve ‘Coach’ Cady Arena thinking a massive comeback was inevitable, but the No. 10 Miami hockey team couldn’t quite claw out of an early hole in a 5-4 loss to St. Lawrence on Friday night.
Friday’s setback snapped the RedHawks’ (3-2) three-game winning streak as the Saints (3-2) handed them their first home loss of the year.
A hooking penalty just 1:21 into the game put the Red and White shorthanded. It took the Saints just 32 seconds to convert with the extra skater. The puck worked to Christian Horn in the middle at the 1:53 mark and his shot to the high corner beat Jay Williams to put SLU up 1-0.
The Red and White had a few rushes after the goal, but could not convert over the next few minutes. Miami got its first power play opportunity with 7:38 gone by after a penalty on Eric Sweetman. Miami got one good look midway through the man advantage when Cody Murphy was fed behind the defense down the left wing side. Murphy’s wrist shot beat Kyle Hayton over his glove, but went off the post. MU was unable to generate much else during the 5-on-4 and still trailed by a goal midway through the opening frame.
Shortly after the penalty, Austin Czarnik had a golden opportunity when a loose puck found his stick in the slot, but his blast was steered aside by Hayton. Moments later, a Miami turnover at the St. Lawrence blue line created a transition rush and Justin Bruckel converted feed from Sean McGovern at the top of the crease to put MU into a 2-0 hole with 8:10 left in the first period.
A scramble in front of the Miami net led to a loose puck that was sent to Mike Graham in the middle. The defenseman fired a shot through traffic at the 16:29 mark that put SLU ahead 3-0 at intermission.
Miami got some pressure in the SLU end on the first few shifts of the second and eventually got to go to work on the power play at the 2:43 mark. While there was some puck movement in the first half of the man advantage, it ultimately did not convert. Another turnover at the SLU blue line left Ryan Lough with a breakaway fresh out of the penalty box and the freshman scored to make it a four-goal game.
A scuffle near the SLU net led to coincidental penalties and a five-minute major on Miami, leaving it to kill a five-minute power play. It appeared the RedHawks found life at the tail end of the penalty kill when Austin Czarnik forced a turnover and fed Blake Coleman for a short-handed goal at the 10:04 mark. Matt Joyaux also picked up an assist on the play.
The momentum was short lived as 10 seconds later Eric Sweetman fired a shot that through a partial screen that beat Williams to up the lead to 5-1. Trailing by four once again, Miami’s power play came through with 5:40 left in the frame as Ben Paulides followed his shot to the crease and tapped in a loose puck for his third goal of the year. Assists went to Czarnik and Coleman on the strike that made the score 5-2 after 40 minutes of play.
The RedHawks began the third period with 1:28 to work with on a power play, but were unable to find the back of the net with the man advantage.
Back-to-back Miami penalties at the 7:33 and 9:35 mark put the Red and White short-handed for the better part of four minutes midway through the period, preventing them from getting much sustained attack. During one of the penalty kills, Matthew Caito found Czarnik streaking behind the defense and sprung him for a breakaway, but Hayton stood his ground to make the save.
A penalty on Hayton with 7:41 remaining left the door open for the Red and White, with Czarnik firing a pass up the seam to Coleman for a breakaway goal at the 12:32 mark. Fourteen seconds later, Anthony Louis fired home his first goal of the year after Riley Barber swung the puck over to the right circle for Louis to wrist one past Hayton. Caito also garnered a secondary assist on the tally that pulled the Red and White within a goal at 5-4 with 7:14 left to play.
With its lead down to a goal, SLU started to bear down a bit more defensively and held MU to only three shots on goal the rest of the way, all of which were turned aside by Hayton to help the Saints hold on for the series opening win.
The RedHawks outshot the Saints by a 42-16 margin and went 2-for-7 on the power play while also scoring a short-handed goal. Czarnik (3 assists) and Coleman (2 goals, 1 assist) both had three-point nights to lead all skaters.
Even in the high scoring affair, Hayton earned first star of the game for turning away 38 shots. Williams made his third-straight start in net and made 11 saves.
Miami and St. Lawrence finish out this weekend’s series on Saturday. Puck drops at 8:05 p.m.
