Box Score Dec. 9, 2017 Box Score | PDF Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Eyeing its first road sweep against No. 10/11 Western Michigan since the 2008-09 season, the Miami hockey team took a 3-1 lead in the second period, but WMU rallied late to pull out a 4-3 overtime win on Saturday night.
Wade Allison scored Western Michigan's (10-8-1, 6-4 National Collegiate Hockey) final three goals to force the series split.
After dropping Friday night's opener, the Broncos got going early on a transition rush as Dawson DiPietro got fed at the far post for a tap in to put them up 1-0. Miami (8-8-2, 3-4-1-0 NCHC) had settled down after allowing the first three shots on goal, but a penalty behind the play put Western Michigan on the power play six minutes in. However, the Red and White managed to kill that one off with Ryan Larkin making a key stop at the end of the man advantage.
Following the penalty kill, Miami started establishing itself in the offensive zone as Phil Knies nearly tied it up when a turnover set him up with an opening in the slot. However, the freshman's wrist shot rang off the post.
Another penalty gave the Broncos a chance to add to their lead with another power play, but it was the RedHawks that found a spark. After forcing a turnover at the blue line, Casey Gilling skated up ice in a 3-on-2, where he found Grant Hutton in the middle. The junior blue liner skated into the slot and beat Ben Blacker five hole to tie it up at 1-1 with 4:55 left in the frame. That marker was Miami's first shorthanded tally of the season.
Yielding the opening goal less than a minute into the contest, Miami returned the favor to Western in the final minute of the first. Karch Bachman drove to the net and beat Ben Blacker in close, but the shot hit the crossbar. The sophomore tracked down his rebound and swung it to the corner, keeping possession alive for Kiefer Sherwood, who in turn found Louie Belpedio moving in from the right point for a backdoor goal with 35.3 seconds left in the first to put MU up 2-1 after 20 minutes.
Miami's penalty kill was put to the test again early in the second period. Western Michigan went on a power play 1:36 into the middle frame and got a brief two-man advantage, but MU was able to kill that one off. The Red and White finally went on their first power play of the game at the 6:17 mark of the period and appeared to convert when Josh Melnick waited out the Broncos in the middle and roof a shot, but officials determined there was incidental goaltender interference on the play. Undeterred, MU eventually scored on the power play as Belpedio got the puck atop the crease at the right wing to Phil Knies, who then fed Gordie Green for a backdoor goal to make it 3-1 with 12:20 to go in the second.
The Broncos were able to get back in it later in the frame as shortly after the RedHawks killed off another power play, Wade Allison got fed in the middle to cut the gap to 3-2 at the 11:32 mark. WMU began to turn up the heat on the MU net, but Ryan Larkin came up with some big stops to keep the lead intact after 40 minutes.
The RedHawks generated strong scoring opportunities to try and regain their two-goal lead. Carson Meyer got a loose puck atop the crease and beat Trevor Gorsuch with a rising shot that hit the crossbar. Later in the frame, Belpedio was fed in transition and again wristed one by Gorsuch, but that hit rang off the post.
Miami's lead held into the latter stages of the third with Larkin coming up big on a break by Colt Conrad.
The Broncos eventually found the tying goal. A point shot by Jared Goff was wide, but took a lively bounce off the backboards and caromed directly to Allison, who buried it into the open net to tie it up with 4:02 left in regulation. While Miami had a couple more rushes late in regulation, nothing came of them as the game wore on into overtime.
With time winding down in the overtime period, Allison was fed for a breakaway at the Miami blue line and finished off the hat trick with 1:03 to go in OT to force the series split.
The Broncos outshot the RedHawks 34-23 on the night. MU went 1-for-3 on the power play while killing off all five WMU power plays. Belpedio put in a goal and an assist for a multi-point night to lead MU's offense. Larkin finished with 30 saves on 34 shots for Miami while Western started Ben Blacker (eight saves on 10 shots) and finished out with Trevor Gorsuch stopping 12 of 13 MU attempts.
Miami is idle until Dec. 30, when it hosts Windsor in an exhibition. MU's regular season resumes against defending national champion Denver on Jan. 5.
