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ITHACA, N.Y. - Fresh off a holiday break, the Miami hockey team got off to a strong start, but was unable to hold off a Cornell rally in a 4-3 loss on Friday night.

The RedHawks (3-7-4) built a 2-0 lead late in the second period, but could not snap their winless streak, which stands at eight games (0-6-2).

"I thought we played hard tonight," head coach Enrico Blasi said. "We need to execute on our chances and be more determined with and without the puck."

Playing at nearly full strength for the first time in a month, Miami came out firing, outshooting Cornell (6-3-1) 8-5 in the first period. One of the RedHawks' newly returned skaters made an impact early on as Carson Meyer, playing for the first time since Nov. 7, finished a 3-on-2 rush as he got fed as the high man in the slot and wired a wrist shot patch Mitch Gillam on the stick side just inside the post for his third goal of the year. Fellow linemates Anthony Louis and Josh Melnick picked up helpers on Meyer's tally that put MU on top 1-0 with 5:57 gone by.

It took 11:30 for the first penalty of the evening to be called as both teams got on crack on the power play. Neither team was able to threaten much with the man advantage and Meyer's goal was the only one on the board as Miami held its 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

The RedHawks opened the second period with a flurry, helped on part by a power play that created plenty of golden scoring chances. However, Mitch Gillam got to every attempt as shots at one point were 17-7 overall in favor of the Red and White. The Big Red got a power play with 7:26 left in the middle stanza.

That man advantage was cut short on a Cornell penalty, but another whistle on Miami at the 13:42 mark gave CU a 4-on-3 for just under a minute. The RedHawks were able to kill off that penalty and during 4-on-4 play struck in transition as Ryan Siroky fed a late rushing Grant Hutton in the slot, where he flung the puck by Gillam for his fourth of the year to make it 2-0 with 5:02 to go until intermission. Justin Greenberg also picked up an assist on the goal. The Big Red answered late in the frame as Noah Bauld found some space entering the zone with speed at the right wall, where he moved in the middle and used an oncoming defender as a screen before wristing a shot past Ryan Larkin with 1:55 left to make it 2-1 Miami through two periods.

Louis nearly put Miami back ahead by two early in the third period as he beat Gillam clean on a wrist shot, but hit the post. The RedHawks' top scorer had another opportunity just under six minutes into the period when a loose puck found his stick in the slot and his shot hit the post of a dislodged net, prompting the officials to determine if the puck would have gone in were the net in place. After a brief delay, the officials kept it a 2-1 game with the no-goal call and Cornell got a chance on the power play at the 6:42 mark to try and tie it up.

Resiliently, the RedHawks were able to kill off the Big Red man advantage, but eventually the scored was tied up Beau Starrett with 9:50 left on a back door feed. It took just another 1:13 for CU to grab its first lead of the night at 3-2 on an Anthony Angello score from right in front of the net. The RedHawks tried to respond with a push, but a penalty with just over five minutes left proved costly as Trevor Yates scored seconds after the ensuing faceoff to give the Big Red a 4-2 lead with 5:02 remaining.

A strong drive to the net by Hutton ended up pulling Miami within one as his feed was redirected in by Karch Bachman for his first career goal with 3:04 remaining. MU had some further chances with its goalie pulled for an extra skater down the stretch, but got no closer in this one.

The RedHawks held a 31-25 shot advantage on the night despite getting just two power plays (0-for-2) compared to six by the Big Red (1-for-6). Hutton (1g, 1a) and Melnick (2a) both finished with multi-point nights. Ryan Larkin stopped 21 shots on the night while Gillam made 28 saves for Cornell.

These teams wrap up their weekend series on Saturday. Opening faceoff is at 7 p.m.