Box Score Nov. 25, 2017 Box Score | PDF Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - After a slow start, the Miami hockey team rallied to grab a third period lead in Saturday night's series finale at Bowling Green, but a late Falcon goal forced overtime as the teams skated to a 2-2 tie.
The RedHawks (6-6-2) extended their unbeaten streak to three games with the result.
"We knew they were going to push back," head coach Enrico Blasi said. "I thought we got our legs in the second and played pretty well and the third period was back and forth. Anytime you go on the road in a hostile environment and pick up a win and a tie, you'll take that."
Having dropped Friday's opener, Bowling Green came out aggressively in the early going to set the tone. The Falcons got a couple early shots to test Ryan Larkin, but he made a couple stops to keep it scoreless. A handful of penalties left Miami at the wrong end of a 4-on-3 power play with 6:51 gone by. The RedHawks were able to keep the Falcons from getting any quality scoring chances as the game remained scoreless midway through the first.
BGSU opened the contest with a 7-1 shot advantage, but steady play by Larkin left it scoreless to allow MU a chance to get its possession game established. A neutral zone turnover created a partial breakaway for Brandon Kruse and he got tripped down on the ensuing play, leading to a penalty shot call. Kruse scored on the awarded penalty shot with 34 seconds left in the opening frame to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes.
Miami started working the puck down low in the Bowling Green zone as Karch Bachman intercepted a pass behind the net and came out front for a backhand shot that Ryan Bednard stopped. Later on in the period, MU worked the puck low to high with a point shot that went wide of the frame. Louie Belpedio retrieved the rebound at the half wall and brought it into the middle of the left circle for a shot that Josh Melnick redirected in to tie it 1-1 at the 6:32 mark of the period. Rourke Russell also picked up an assist on the tying tally.
Constant penalty calls left play choppy for much of the second period and the RedHawks eventually got a power play in the latter stages of the frame. However, time on the clock expired before MU could get a good look at the net as the game wore on in a 1-1 tie at the second intermission.
While Bowling Green had the lone shot over the first seven minutes and change of the third period, the frame became a bit wide open in the early stages with end to end rushes and long periods between whistles. BGSU put together one transition rush that created a couple strong scoring opportunities, but Larkin stood strong to steer both shots aside.
A Falcon penalty allowed the RedHawks a late opportunity to go on the attack and with the man advantage winding down, Louie Belpedio gained the zone and fired a wrist shot by Bednard to make it a 2-1 game with 6:51 to go. Gordie Green and Grant Hutton both earned assists on the Miami captain's fifth tally of the season.
The Falcons went on a late power play with 3:42 remaining, but the RedHawks were able to squelch that chance. However, BGSU used the offensive zone positioning after the penalty expired to lift Bednard for an extra attacker. MU iced the puck a couple times, but was unable to get a clear from its zone as the puck eventually worked its way to Alec Rauhauser at the point, where he walked in and wristed a shot home with 37.8 seconds remaining to force overtime.
Miami finished with a 4-1 shot advantage in the overtime session and generated a couple good scoring chances in the final minute of the extra session when Belpedio was fed below the left faceoff dot for a point blank look. The MU captain got two looks, but Bednard stopped both and covered it up to put the game in the books as a 2-2 tie.
With BGSU also playing 3-on-3 overtime in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, both teams continued on into the second overtime period in an open ice display. After trading possessions throughout the frame, Tyler Spezia eventually ended it by poking home a rebound with 20.2 seconds left. Despite the tally, the game still ended as a 2-2 tie by NCAA official standards.
The Falcons finished with a slim 26-25 shot advantage on the night while the RedHawks went 1-for-4 on the power play and killed off all four BGSU man advantages. Belpedio notched his second-straight multi-point game with a goal and an assist while Larkin stopped 24 of 26 shots for Miami. Bednard finished with 23 saves for Bowling Green.
The RedHawks wrap up non-conference play next weekend when they host Cornell at Steve 'Coach' Cady Arena. Puck drop in Friday night's series opener is at 7:35 p.m.
