Miami University
St. Lawrence
No. 10 RedHawks Outlast Saints in OT, 2-1
10/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Follow: @MiamiOH_Hockey | @MiamiRedHawks
OXFORD, Ohio – One thing the No. 10 Miami hockey team knows so far this season is drama.
Playing its fifth one-goal game in six contests this season, Sean Kuraly capped a dramatic 2-1 overtime win over St. Lawrence when he scored with 1:35 left in the extra period.
The victory gives the RedHawks (4-2) a split of their weekend series with the Saints (3-3) in their final series before the start of conference play.
Miami got off to a much stronger start to the series finale than it did on Friday night, when it trailed 3-0 after the first period. The RedHawks fired six of the first seven shots on goal and got a power play just under eight minutes into the contest. Despite one good chance for Cody Murphy in front of the net, Miami was unable to score with the man advantage. A Miami penalty at the 11:57 mark put the RedHawks on the defensive, but they were able to kill off the first Saints’ power play of the night.
Justin Bruckel capitalized off a RedHawk defensive zone turnover by cleaning up a rebound of Brian Ward’s shot and slipping it into the open net with 4:53 left in the period. That tally was one of only four first-period shots for St. Lawrence as Miami skated into the locker room down 1-0 despite a 14-4 edge in shots on goal.
The RedHawks came out firing some more in the second and outshot the Saints 15-0 over the 20-minute frame. It marked the first time the Red and White did not allow a shot on goal in a period since Nov. 19, 1999 against Michigan State. Miami found the back of the net 6:48 into the period when Taylor Richart blocked a clearing attempt at the wall and found John Doherty at the top of the crease, where he outwaited Kyle Hayton and buried his first-collegiate goal to tie the score at 1-1.
A pair of power plays at the 10:14 and 17:53 marks, respectively, gave Miami some opportunities to take its first lead of the weekend, but both came up empty. Miami’s best threat came just as the first man advantage expired when Anthony Louis fired a shot to the net where Riley Barber was camped out, but Hayton made a pair of saves to keep the score tied. The Red and White ended up outshooting the Saints 15-0 in the second period and skated to the dressing room in a 1-1 tie.
After Bruckel’s first-period goal, the Red and White held the Saints without a shot for the next 30:40 until Jay Williams stopped Mike Marnell’s attempt 5:47 into the third. A five minute major penalty and game misconduct to Blake Coleman gave the Saints a golden chance to regain the lead, but the RedHawks managed to kill off the long power play by allowing just a single shot on goal. Miami got a power play of its own with 3:42 left in regulation and fired three shots Hayton’s way, but the SLU goalie turned each attempt aside to keep the score tied 1-1 after 60 minutes despite MU’s 16-6 shot advantage.
Barber had a glorious opportunity off the opening draw in overtime as he walked down the left wing and flung a wrist shot that Hayton deflected in the air with his glove. The puck fluttered just past the net to keep the score deadlocked. Miami once again had the ice tilted towards the SLU net in overtime, outshooting the Saints 8-1 in the extra session. Still, it was looking like the game would go to a shootout until Murphy fed Scott Dornbrock for a shot atop the left faceoff circle. The blast deflected off a Saint skater directly to Kuraly at the right wing, where he fired the puck into the open net to send the RedHawks into the win column.
Miami outshot St. Lawrence 53-11 overall on Saturday and owned a 95-27 edge in shots during the weekend series. Kuraly himself led all skaters with 10 shots, one shy of SLU’s total. The RedHawks went 0-for-5 on the power play, but killed off all four Saint power plays, their first perfect night on the penalty kill this season. Hayton stopped 51 of 53 shots for SLU while Williams stopped 10 of the 11 shots he faced.
The RedHawks begin National Collegiate Hockey Conference play on Friday when they travel to Minnesota Duluth. The puck drops at 8:07 p.m. ET.
