Hockey

RedHawks Snatch Two League Points in Tie with Mavericks

Box Score Jan. 20, 2017

Box Score | PDF Box Score

OMAHA, Neb. - After digging into an early hole, the Miami hockey team scored three-straight goals and eventually picked up a 3-3 tie at No. 19 Omaha on Friday night.

Scott Dornbrock scored with 2:10 left in the 3-on-3 overtime period to hand the RedHawks (8-9-6, 4-5-4-2 National Collegiate Hockey) two points in the NCHC standings.

Both teams had some transition opportunities early, but Miami drew a penalty at the 3:39 mark to get the evening's first power play. While there were a couple perimeter looks, Omaha (13-8-4, 6-6-1-0 NCHC) had the best opportunity with a late 2-on-1 rush where Austin Ortega missed the target. UNO killed off the penalty, but MU managed to hold possession in the offensive zone for large stretches, one such rush led to a loose puck finding Carson Meyer's stick at the door step, but Evan Weninger made a sprawling save to keep it scoreless.

The Mavericks withstood that rush and scored twice in a 59-second span to go ahead 2-0 as Steven Spinner redirected a Fredrik Olofsson shot at 9:32 and Teemu Pulkkinen collected a rebound down low and converted at 10:31.

Play tilted back to the Omaha end and Miami eventually drew another penalty late in the opening frame. The Red and White took advantage of the opportunity as Louie Belpedio fired home a one-timer from the slot to cut the deficit to 2-1 with 2:47 left in the opening frame. Anthony Louis and Carson Meyer picked up assists on the tally that brought MU within one after the first period.

Miami got a third power play opportunity just over two minutes into the second period, but was unable to find the equalizer at that time. Omaha countered by pressuring the Miami net, nearly scoring on a shot that did eventually go in, but not before a whistle by the referee. Shortly afterward, a shot off an offensive zone faceoff win by Luc Snuggerud rang off the post to leave it a 2-1 Maverick lead.

Sustained pressure led to a slew of scoring opportunities for the Red and White as Kiefer Sherwood got fed in the middle for a one-timer that Weninger kept out. That shift was followed up by a deft play by Willie Knierim, who tipped a loose puck in the slot up high and past Weninger for his third goal of the season to tie the game with 8:16 left in the middle stanza. Dornbrock and Sherwood assisted on Knierim's third tally of the year.

After going without a power play in the first half of the game, Omaha went on its league best power play twice in the final 7:02 of the second. Miami's NCHC-leading penalty kill proved the victor of those sequences thanks to some timely stops by Ryan Larkin, including a point blank save on a Tyler Vesel one-timer during the second Mavericks' man advantage. Knierim's goal proved the only one of the period as the teams entered the third period all tied up at two apiece.

It took a mere 21 seconds after the center ice faceoff before the Red and White grabbed their first lead of the night. Jared Brandt held the line on a clear and the puck found Anthony Louis at the left wing, where he flung the puck to a crashing Carson Meyer to make it 3-2. Officials took another look due to a challenge by Omaha, but upheld the goal that gave MU its first lead of the night.

Miami's penalty kill was put to work on several occasions in the third period and Omaha's lethal power play was able to finally even the score as Jake Randolph finished a back door feed on the third power play of the frame to make it 3-3 with 6:16 to go. Both teams got nine shots on goal for the frame, but that Randolph goal was the last one to find the back of the net as the teams went to overtime.

The Red and White controlled play for most of the overtime session, firing three of the four shots on goal and having a few more transition opportunities that went a hair wide. A Miami penalty in the final seconds of the extra period carried over into the 3-on-3 frame, which made it an extended 4-on-3 for Omaha. The Red and White bore down and killed off the frame and with 2:10 left, Scott Dornbrock was fed coming down the right wing and beat Weninger to give the RedHawks two league points.

Miami finished with a 35-32 shot advantage and went 1-for-3 on the power play while killing off 5-of-6 Omaha power plays. Larkin stopped 29 of 32 shots while Weninger made 32 saves of his own. Louis dished out two assists for a multi-point night.

These teams wrap up the weekend series on Saturday night. Puck drops at 8:37 p.m.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Jared Brandt

#16 Jared Brandt

Defenseman
6' 0"
Freshman
Carson Meyer

#18 Carson Meyer

Forward
5' 11"
Freshman
Ryan Larkin

#31 Ryan Larkin

Goaltender
6' 1"
Freshman
Willie Knierim

#92 Willie Knierim

Forward
6' 3"
Freshman
Kiefer Sherwood

#44 Kiefer Sherwood

Forward
6' 0"
Freshman
Scott Dornbrock

#27 Scott Dornbrock

Defensemen
6' 3"
Freshman
Louie Belpedio

#58 Louie Belpedio

Defensemen
5' 10"
Freshman
Anthony Louis

#95 Anthony Louis

Forward
5' 7"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Jared Brandt

#16 Jared Brandt

6' 0"
Freshman
Defenseman
Carson Meyer

#18 Carson Meyer

5' 11"
Freshman
Forward
Ryan Larkin

#31 Ryan Larkin

6' 1"
Freshman
Goaltender
Willie Knierim

#92 Willie Knierim

6' 3"
Freshman
Forward
Kiefer Sherwood

#44 Kiefer Sherwood

6' 0"
Freshman
Forward
Scott Dornbrock

#27 Scott Dornbrock

6' 3"
Freshman
Defensemen
Louie Belpedio

#58 Louie Belpedio

5' 10"
Freshman
Defensemen
Anthony Louis

#95 Anthony Louis

5' 7"
Freshman
Forward