Box Score

Photo by Mark Kuhlman

OMAHA, Neb. -- Conor Lemirande tallied his first three goals of the season for his first-collegiate hat trick to lead the Miami hockey team to an emphatic 7-3 road win at No. 7 Omaha on Saturday night.

The RedHawks' (9-11-3, 4-8-2-2 National Collegiate Hockey) seven goals are a season high and give them a weekend sweep over the Mavericks (15-8-1, 5-8-1-0 NCHC).

Both teams kept the opposition to the outside in the opening few minutes of play, with Miami holding a 2-1 edge in shots over the first 4:18. A Miami cross-check put Omaha on the evening's first power play with 6:24 gone by. The Red and White did a solid job of keeping the Mavs to the outside and kept the contest scoreless near the midway point of the opening frame.

With time winding down in the frame, Lemirande got Miami on the board when he tapped in a rebound from an Andrew Schmit attempt that went off the boards behind the net and beat Kirk Thompson to the opposite post. That tally stood up to video review and Lemirande's first goal of the year gave the RedHawks a 1-0 lead with 4:02 left in the first period.

The Red and White got a chance to extend their lead with a power play 31 seconds later and fired two quality shots through traffic that Thompson got a piece of to keep it a one-shot game. Kevin Morris found the puck on his stick in the waning seconds down the left side and got close in attempt below the circle that Thompson again fought off, keeping it a 1-0 game after 20 minutes. MU ended up doubling up UNO in shots, 10-5, registering the final six shots on goal of the first period.

Morris got another chance on the first shift of the second period and buried it as he was fed by himself in the slot by Sean Kuraly and Zach LaValle as they got the puck deep in transition. Morris buried a shot top shelf for his third goal of the year to give MU a 2-0 lead just 42 seconds into the middle stanza. Kuraly then got into the action himself as a LaValle shot got tipped to the right circle by Morris to set the Miami captain up with an open net where he buried his third of the year to give MU its largest lead of the season at 3-0 just 3:12 into the second.

Roughly five minutes later, Mason Morelli got the Mavericks on the board when he crashed the net on a Ryan Galt shot and tapped in the rebound out front to cut the deficit to 3-1 with 11:54 to go in the frame. Lemirande responded just 1:36 later as Alex Gacek beat out an icing to get the puck behind the goal line before centering to him in the middle, where he wristed a shot by Thompson to make it 4-1. Josh Melnick also earned an assist on the play.

Lemirande completed the hat trick at the 13:02 mark by redirected Schmit's feed in front and past Thompson with Scott Dornbrock also picking up an assist on the play. A power play shortly thereafter bore fruit as Anthony Louis finished a back door feed from Kuraly with Caito also picking up a helper with 5:07 to go in the frame. The scoring wasn't done yet as LaValle then one-timed a Sean Kuraly centering feed with 4:12 left in the period to up the lead to 7-1. The Mavs answered with an Ian Brady goal, but the RedHawks held a 7-2 lead when the dust settled after their six-goal second period.

Morelli cut the Miami lead to 7-3 just 4:06 into the third period by redirecting a Brady point shot past Williams to give Omaha some life. UNO also got an extended 4-on-4 power play with 12:22 to go, but MU was able to disrupt passing lanes and clear the puck several times to maintain its lead and keep UNO from getting any closer.

Five different Miami skaters put up multi-point nights with Kuraly matching a career high with four points on a goal and three assists, Lemirande doubling his career point total with his hat trick, LaValle putting up a goal and two assists to double his season point total with Morris (one goal, one assist) and Schmit (two assists) putting up two points apiece. The Mavericks ended up outshooting the RedHawks 30-27. MU went 1-for-3 on the power play while holding UNO scoreless in five man advantages. Williams extended his unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1) by stopping 27 shots while Thompson made 20 saves for Omaha.

The RedHawks open up a four-game home stand when they begin a weekend series against Denver. That game is broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network and will start at 7 p.m., earlier than the usual Friday start time at Steve `Coach' Cady Arena.