OXFORD, Ohio – A tough first period proved too much to overcome as the 19th-ranked Miami hockey team dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 11 North Dakota on Friday night.
North Dakota (5-2-1, 1-0 National Collegiate Hockey) scored twice in the first period and held off a Miami (7-4, 1-2 NCHC) comeback bid in the third.
The Fighting Hawks went on the first two power plays of the night before the game was 10 minutes old. MU managed to kill off the first without incident, but a turnover below the goal line led to a Matt Kiersted power play tally at the 8:28 mark, putting UND up 1-0.
North Dakota recorded the first seven shots on goal of the night before Miami closed the gap slightly. Even so, Mark Senden put the Fighting Hawks on top 2-0 with 4:41 left in the frame when he picked a corner from the top of the right circle. UND's 2-0 lead stood at intermission.
Miami went to its first power play of the game just 1:22 into the second period, but North Dakota blocked four shots and got a stop from Adam Scheel to keep the two-goal lead intact. The Fighting Hawks had a chance to go up 3-0 midway through the period when Nick Jones was fed with an opening on a 2-on-1, but his shot hit the cross bar and stayed out.
It appeared the RedHawks were going to remain down a couple after 40 minutes until some strong cycling in the waning seconds paid off.
Monte Graham fed the puck from the goal line to
Derek Daschke, who one-timed a shot that redirected off
Ryan Siroky and in with 1.5 seconds left. Officials took a couple looks at it to check for interference and North Dakota challenged for offside, but ultimately the goal stood and Miami pulled within 2-1 at the break.
The Fighting Hawks got a great chance to build their two-goal lead back up when Rhett Gardner was fed on a breakaway, but
Ryan Larkin shut the door with his right pad. UND got a power play off of that rush, but MU killed it off to keep the contest at 2-1.
Near the midway point of the third,
Jonathan Gruden got fed at the doorstep for a good chance, but Adam Scheel got a pad on the jam attempt to keep UND in front. Later on,
Gordie Green got fed on a 2-on-1 rush in front, but his equalizer bid went wide of the cage.
Miami got a pair of power plays in the final eight minutes, but North Dakota killed off both and allowed just one shot on goal in the process. MU pulled Larkin for an extra skater in the final minute, but could not sustain pressure in the zone and a turnover in the neutral zone led to an empty net goal by Gardner that put the game away.
The Fighting Hawks outshot the RedHawks 30-17 for the night and went 1-for-4 on the power play while killing all four RedHawk man advantages. Larkin finished with 27 saves while Scheel turned aside 16 shots in the other crease.
These teams wrap up their weekend series on Saturday night. Puck drop is at 7:05 p.m.
