Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- A familiar start put the Miami hockey team in a familiar spot, but a determined effort saw the RedHawks blast a season-high 49 shots in a 4-1 win at No. 19 Bowling Green on Friday.

Friday's victory is Miami's (12-13-3) second straight and gives it a season sweep of Bowling Green (16-10-6).

The first scoring chance came for Bowling Green less than a minute in as Mark Cooper slipped past the defense for a breakaway, but Jay Williams steadily made a save and covered the rebound. BGSU also went on the first power play of the evening at the 3:02 mark, but it was MU that generated the best attack as Anthony Louis got behind both Falcon point men in transition for a shot that Chris Nell stopped before also turning aside Sean Kuraly's follow-up attempt as the penalty expired.

That penalty kill had Miami swarming to the Bowling Green net as it registered nine of the first 11 shots on goal seven minutes into the contest. Nell was still equal to the task, making each stop. The Falcons went to their second power play of the period roughly 10 minutes into the contest. It appeared to be another strong RedHawk penalty kill effort, but Brent Tate redirected a Sean Walker point shot with time winding down on the man advantage to put the Falcons on top 1-0 at the 11:42 mark.

Miami was shorthanded again on the following shift, but killed off Bowling Green's third power play with little trouble before getting its first man advantage with 5:48 to go in the first period. The first half of that power play was dangerous as Jack Roslovic got two looks from the slot, one of which knocked Nell's stick out of his hand and the second was smothered by BGSU's goaltender for a whistle as the Falcons eventually killed off the penalty. The score remained 1-0 BGSU after 20 minutes of play despite MU's 16-8 advantage in shots on goal. That marked the third-straight time Miami trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes despite a decisive shot advantage with MU owning a 44-19 edge in shots on goal during that span.

After spending an early shift in its own zone, the Red and White generated several outstanding chances. Anthony Louis was fed down the left wing on a 2-on-1 rush, but his shot whistled wide. The RedHawks also caught the Falcons on a line change and the confusion set up Kiefer Sherwood in the slot, but Nell smothered the wrist shot. Later on, Conor Lemirande was stopped on a wraparound and Andrew Schmit was unable to jam home a rebound.

The Red and White got a glorious opportunity nearly 12 minutes in as the Falcons were whistled for two penalties 15 seconds apart to give Miami a two-man advantage. That opportunity struck gold as Anthony Louis one-timed a Josh Melnick feed top shelf from the right circle to tie the score at 1-1 with 7:23 left in the middle stanza. Louie Belpedio also earned an assist on the tying goal.

Pressure continued to mount at the BGSU end and eventually MU broke through as Kuraly redirected Scott Dornbrock's point shot from the goal mouth to give it a 2-1 lead with 4:45 left until intermission. Grant Hutton also drew a helper to extend his point streak to three games. The Red and White once again owned the puck most of the period, outshooting the Falcons 14-7 to skate into the locker room with a 2-1 lead.

Miami entered the third period with another 1:12 to play with a carryover power play and Bowling Green took another penalty 39 seconds in to give MU another 5-on-3. Nell was able to hold the fort and keep it a one-goal game. The Falcons then went on the power play at the 3:24 mark, but Kuraly drew a penalty less than a minute later when he was hauled down after getting behind their defense. While there were some chances at both ends, both the 4-on-4 and the abbreviated Miami power play came and went without a change in the score.

With the two-way parade to the penalty box slowing down for a little while, Miami went back to work in the Bowling Green end and finally got some breathing room when Sherwood banged home a rebound off a Kuraly shot to make it a 3-1 contest. Roslovic also drew an assist on the insurance tally with 6:09 remaining.

As time waned, the Falcons pulled Nell for a sixth skater with roughly two and a half minutes left. The RedHawks were able to disrupt their attack in the offensive zone, with Williams making a strong pad save on a point shot that got through traffic. Eventually, a turnover in the neutral zone was picked up by Hutton, who sent it wide to Matthew Caito, who skated to the red line and flung the puck into the empty net to seal the win with 1:47 to go.

Miami finished with a season-high 49 shots on goal, outshooting Bowling Green 49-22 overall. MU went 1-for-7 on the power play while BGSU finished 1-for-4 with the man advantage. Kuraly (1g, 1a) and Hutton (2a) each finished with multi-point nights while Williams stopped 21 shots for the win. Nell made 45 saves at the other end to keep the Falcons in the contest.

Friday's win was the only weekend contest for the RedHawks, who will return to the road when they go to Western Michigan to start a two-game series on Feb. 19.