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OXFORD, Ohio – Jay Williams stopped all 23 shots that Western Michigan threw at him to guide the No. 7 Miami hockey team to a gritty 1-0 win on Friday night.
The RedHawks’ (9-4, 5-2 National Collegiate Hockey) opened a series on a winning note for the fourth-straight series and are now one victory shy of matching last year’s league win total.
Miami was sharp early and forced Western Michigan (3-7-1, 1-5-1-1 NCHC) to take a penalty at the 2:15 mark. The man advantage connected just 3:20 into the contest when Austin Czarnik hit Blake Coleman with a seam pass that put him on a partial breakaway. The senior forward roofed a backhand shot over Lukas Hafner that put the Red and White on top 1-0 in the early going. Louie Belpedio also picked up an assist on Coleman’s seventh goal of the year.
WMU had a pair of power plays after that goal, but MU’s penalty killing unit was superb. The Broncos nearly doubled the RedHawks up on the shots (11-6) in the opening frame, but Williams stopped all 11 shots he faced to keep Miami ahead by a goal at intermission.
Miami outshot Western Michigan 9-5 in the second period and killed off an early Bronco power play thanks to two saves by Williams. The Red and White got a couple power plays in the final six minutes, with the first putting a lot of pressure on WMU’s Lukas Hafner. After going to the man advantage with 5:45 left in the frame, Czarnik threaded a pass to Michael Mooney at the left circle for a one-timer that beat Hafner but rang off the post. Mooney and his line mates had another chance shortly after the power play expired, but Hafner was able to cover the puck for a whistle. MU’s second power play was unable to mount much of an attack as the teams skated through a scoreless period with the RedHawks still up 1-0.
The RedHawks’ penalty kill was tested one more time 5:46 into the third and it came up big once again as Williams stopped two shots during another scoreless two minutes. From there, the RedHawks started to pressure the Broncos’ defense to the tune of a 13-7 shot advantage in the final 20 minutes.
Miami had an opportunity to salt the game away on the power play with 8:41 remaining, but Western Michigan was able to kill off the man advantage to keep it a one-shot game. The RedHawks packed it in defensively from there, allowing only two Bronco shots on goal over the final 6:41.
With WMU pulling Hafner for an extra skater, a shot attempt from the point was ruled offside with under 10 seconds left. The Broncos got a player behind the MU defense on the ensuing draw, but he was also ruled offside, which led to a bench minor on WMU that moved the faceoff to the Broncos’ end and effectively sealed the deal for the RedHawks.
Miami outshot Western Michigan 28-23 overall and 22-12 over the final 40 minutes of play. The Red and White connected on 1-of-5 power plays while killing off all four Bronco man advantages. Williams’ 23 saves gave him his second shutout of the year and fourth career clean sheet.
The Red and White conclude their series with the Broncos on Saturday night. Puck drops at 7:05 p.m.
