Miami University
Colorado College
RedHawks' Stellar Special Teams Blank Tigers, 3-0
2/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
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OXFORD, Ohio - A clinical special teams performance paved the way for the Miami hockey team to top Colorado College 3-0 on Friday night.
Jay Williams stopped all 31 shots he faced for his first shutout of the year and the RedHawks (14-14-3, 8-11-2-2 National Collegiate Hockey) killed off seven penalties and scored both a power play and shorthanded goal to get back to .500 on the season and keep pace in the race for home ice in next month's NCHC playoffs.
After a nondescript first few minutes, the Tigers (6-24-1, 4-16-1-0 NCHC) went on the power play 2:16 after a boarding penalty on the RedHawks. Williams stuck with one tricky shot on a deflection to force a whistle and Miami eventually killed off the man advantage.
Miami's power play went to work at the 8:13 mark and struck 27 seconds later as Sean Kuraly gathered the puck off the wall near the goal line and swung a seam pass to Kiefer Sherwood inside the left circle, where he one-timed a shot that beat Jacob Nehama stick side for his ninth goal of the season. Anthony Louis also drew an assist to give MU a 1-0 lead.
At one point, shots on goal were tied at 3-3, but MU then fired six of the next seven attempts during its surge to gain the lead. CC then finished the frame by directing four of the final five shots on goal of the frame, but Williams was steady in keeping MU on top 1-0 after 20 minutes.
Josh Melnick nearly put Miami on top 2-0 after Louis dropped a pass to him with Nehama down, but his wrist shot went off the cross bar and he was called for a hold shortly thereafter. CC's power play was negated three seconds later by an interference penalty. Chris Joyaux made a nice stretch pass during 4-on-4 play that caught the Tigers on a change and drew another penalty. With a lot of open ice during a 4-on-3, Sherwood nearly got his second of the night when his one-timer got by Nehama, but his shot hit the cross bar and the Tigers were able to eventually able to kill off the power play.
Things had the potential to make a complete turn to Colorado College's favor as a five-minute major penalty gave the Tigers a five-minute power play with 12:01 left in the middle stanza. However, it was Miami that found the offense as Melnick gained the zone and won a battle at the half wall before feeding Taylor Richart at the point. Richart then fired a rocket slap shot that blew past Nehama for his second career goal and MU's first shorthanded tally of the season that made it 2-0 with 10:33 left in the second. Miami actually registered both shots on goal during the Colorado College power play and outshot CC 10-5 in the second period to skate into the locker room up a couple goals.
An early chance came for Miami to go up three as Alex Gacek skated through a seam and got in for a late breakaway, but Nehama made a save to keep the Tigers in striking distance. Penalties began to plague Miami as the period wore on as it was forced to kill four penalties. A regular minor came and went with Williams turning aside three shots to get the period past the midway point with the lead still 2-0. The Tigers had another glorious chance to get back in it when the RedHawks were whistled for their second five-minute major of the game.
While there was a CC penalty in that stretch at the 11:05 mark to start things off at 4-on-4, a Miami turnover led to another minor 49 seconds later to give the Tigers a long 4-on-3 and then 5-on-3 advantage. Colorado College directed eight shots at the net during those long power plays and had several other chances blocked as Williams and the defense held tight to hold the two-goal cushion.
With play finally back to 5-on-5, Miami put the contest to bed when Josh Melnick corralled a loose puck and walked it into the slot, where he fired a wrist shot past Nehama with 1:32 remaining to cap the scoring at 3-0. Alex Gacek also picked up an assist on the final tally of the contest.
Eighteen of Colorado College's 31 shots came in the third period and 12 of those were during its four power plays that frame as CC held a 31-26 advantage in shots on goal. Melnick put up his fourth multi-point game of the season with a goal and an assist while Williams picked up his first shutout of the season with 31 saves. Nehama turned away 23 shots at the other end.
The RedHawks close out their home schedule on Saturday night against the Tigers with faceoff at 7:05 p.m. Miami will honor its 2016 senior class prior to puck drop.
