Box Score

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Miami hockey team got off to a strong start in Saturday's series finale at Western Michigan, but a big second period by the Broncos coupled with some missed opportunities on the power play sent the RedHawks to their third straight loss, 5-2.

Miami drops to 3-4-2 overall and 0-2 in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play.

"I thought we started the game well and played hard," head coach Enrico Blasi said. The second period hurt us with the penalties and they made us pay for every mistake. We had some good chances in the third period, but their goalie played well. This wasn't our best performance and we'll get back to work on Monday."

The RedHawks' vaunted power play got five power plays in the first period after going 2-for-3 in Friday night's opener, but were unable to strike for a goal with the man advantage in the opening 20 minutes of play. Still, Miami created plenty of puck possession and attack, getting 11 shots on goal.

One of MU's power plays was cut short due to a penalty at the 3:54 mark, opening the ice up a little bit with 4-on-4 play. Thirty seconds into that situation, Scott Dornbrock hit Kiefer Sherwood on a stretch pass from his own zone up a seam in the Bronco (5-2-1, 2-2 NCHC) defense. Sherwood skated in on a breakaway and beat Trevor Gorsuch with a wrist shot to put the RedHawks on top 1-0.

A slashing penalty with 7:33 left in the frame put the Broncos on a power play and while the RedHawks killed off a good chunk of the man advantage, WMU managed to connect with three seconds left on the power play when Michael Rebry fed Jade McMullen with a cross-crease pass and a back door goal to tie it up with 5:36 to go until intermission.

That tie lasted all of 13 seconds as Miami gained the zone off the ensuing faceoff. Conor Lemirande corralled a puck in the corner and turned in front on the half wall outside the right faceoff circle before finding Gordie Green unmarked moving in on the left side. Lemirande's pass was a perfect tape-to-tape pass that set up a back door tap in for Green's first goal of the season. Sherwood also picked up an assist for his second point of the period to give the Red and White a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes of play.

Similar to Friday night, following a relatively even first period of play, Western Michigan seized control of the puck and spent much of the middle frame on the attack. The Broncos outshot the RedHawks by a 16-7 margin and got a couple of early power plays to keep the pressure on the Miami net. While MU killed off those power plays, WMU eventually tied it up at the 8:04 mark on a Lawton Courtnall shot. With the period winding down, Matheson Iacopelli recorded his second-straight two-goal night by scoring twice in the final 4:09 of the frame to give the Broncos a 4-2 lead through two periods.

Trailing by two, Western Michigan opened the door for Miami to forge a comeback by taking five more minor penalties, but managed to kill off each man advantage. The Red and White outshot the Broncos by a 13-5 margin in the final 20 minutes, but it was WMU's power play that struck as Wade Allison put the game way with 4:02 left to make it 5-2.

The Broncos outshot the RedHawks 34-31 and in what was the biggest difference in the game, went 2-for-7 on the power play while killing off all 11 Miami power plays. With a goal and an assist, Sherwood notched his second-straight multi-point game and his fifth this season. Ryan Larkin and Trevor Gorsuch both stopped 29 shots in goal.

Miami returns home to continue NCHC play with a series against Omaha that begins on Friday night at 7:35 p.m.