Box Score

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Anthony Louis netted a pair of goals and the Miami hockey team jumped on Western Michigan early en route to a 4-1 win on Friday night.

That victory is the RedHawks' (13-13-3, 7-10-2-2 National Collegiate Hockey) third straight and moves them back to .500 for the first time since mid-November.

Miami came out engaged early on, with Sean Kuraly laying on a big tone-setting hit in the neutral zone and a couple good looks from freshmen Josh Melnick and Zach LaValle on their first shifts that stayed out. Three early icing infractions eventually led to the Broncos using their timeout just 2:34 into the contest.

The Red and White continued laying siege to the Bronco net and got on the board at the 4:26 mark when Josh Melnick intercepted a breakout pass and chipped the puck to Louis into the zone down the right wing. Louis had a 2-on-1 advantage on the play and worked the puck into the middle to beat Lukas Hafner five-hole to put MU up 1-0 early on.

Miami registered the first nine shots on goal before Jay Williams had to make a stop on Chris Dienes a little over five minutes into the contest. The Broncos (7-19-3, 4-14-1-1 NCHC) did get things going by taking five of the next six shots, but Williams calmly kept the puck out during that surge. After weathering that storm, Sean Kuraly had a golden opportunity to make it a 2-0 game with six minutes and change left in the frame as he brought the puck into the middle for a shot that Hafner shrugged off.

A Western Michigan penalty with 3:38 left in the opening frame gave Miami its first crack with a power play. The Red and White took advantage of that opportunity as Kevin Morris punched in a rebound from Scott Dornbrock's one-timer with 2:42 to go in the period to make it a 2-0 contest. Justin Greenberg also assisted on Morris' fifth goal of the year, which held up under a video review to allow MU to skate to the dressing room with a 2-0 lead. Miami also outshot Western Michigan 17-8.

The RedHawks were buzzing early in the second period as well, with Melnick getting stopped on a backhand during a 2-on-1 rush and Hafner later covering a Greenberg one-timer from atop the right circle. Kiefer Sherwood made it a 3-0 game 3:01 into the middle stanza when Louie Belpedio recovered from a fanned shot in the slot by swinging it to Sherwood inside the right dot, where he roofed a shot by Hafner for his eighth tally of the season. Kuraly also assisted on the tally.

Two Miami penalties 31 seconds apart gave Western Michigan some life with a 5-on-3 at the 7:58 mark for 1:29. The RedHawks' penalty killing was superb, however, getting a couple quality Jay Williams saves during the two-man advantage, the last of which came on Colt Conrad at the doorstep to keep it a 3-0 game.

Miami's power play unit went back to work with 4:41 left in the period and Matthew Caito nearly made it a 4-0 game at the tail end of the man advantage when he was fed in the middle for a wrist shot that got by Hafner, but rang off the post. Nevertheless, Miami maintained its 3-0 lead through two periods.

Anthony Louis made it 4-0 on a tremendous individual play just 1:06 into the third period when he took advantage of a Bronco turnover and roofed a sharp angle shot while being taken down from the right wing for his second goal of the night. The third period was a penalty filled affair that saw both teams go on two power plays, though none of the four combined man advantages converted. With Williams seconds away from his first shutout of the season, Aaron Hadley ended the bid with 33 seconds left to cut the deficit to 4-1 and cap the scoring on the evening.

Miami outshot Western Michigan 34-28 overall, with half of its shots on goal coming in its two-goal first period. Williams stopped 27 of 28 shots to improve to 8-4-1 on the season while Hafner made 24 saves and Trevor Gorsuch turned aside all six he faced in the final 18:54 in relief.

The RedHawks finish their weekend series with the Broncos on Saturday night. Opening faceoff is at 7 p.m.