Box Score Feb. 23, 2018 Box Score | Photo Gallery 
OXFORD, Ohio - Ben Lown's goal 59 seconds into overtime capped a dramatic comeback for the Miami hockey team in its 4-3 triumph over No. 12 North Dakota on Friday night.
Miami (11-17-3, 6-13-2-0 National Collegiate Hockey) rallied back from a 3-0 deficit to post its first third-period comeback win over the season.
The RedHawks got the first power play of the night two and a half minutes into the contest and generated some good looks. MU's best opportunity came early in the man advantage as the puck got worked to Gordie Green at the left circle with a look at an open net, but Cam Johnson slid over to make the stop as UND killed off the penalty.
A North Dakota (14-11-8, 8-9-4-2 NCHC) power play came on the board at the 5:22 mark. UND controlled the puck in the zone for long stretches, but MU kept things to the outside and got a stop from Ryan Larkin to leave it scoreless.
The RedHawks got three power plays in the opening frame and outshot the Fighting Hawks by a 7-4 margin, keeping pressure on their defense for shifts at a time in the first period. However, UND got the lone goal of the frame with 6:06 left on the clock as the puck got worked over to Grant Mismash following a long string of possession and the freshman scored from the right circle to give it a 1-0 lead at the intermission.
After a promising start to the second, consecutive penalties on Miami 1:44 into the period gave North Dakota a full 5-on-3 to work with. Christian Wolanin made it 2-0 just 33 seconds later on the strength of a one-timer to dig MU into a two-goal hole.
With MU getting a power play opportunity of its own to get a little closer, UND was the one who found the net. Shane Gersich went in on a breakaway that Ryan Larkin stopped, but Jonny Simonson cleaned up the rebound to extend the North Dakota lead to 3-0 on a shorthanded goal with 12:25 left in the middle stanza.
The power play eventually got killed off, but Miami remained in control of the puck and eventually Josh Melnick found Alec Mahalak coming in from the right point. The freshman blue liner flung a shot through traffic that found the net at the 8:23 mark for his first collegiate goal. Louie Belpedio also picked up an assist on the tally that cut the deficit to 3-1. The Red and White again outshot the Fighting Hawks in the period, but that Mahalak goal was all they had on the board as they entered the third period down a couple.
Trailing despite a pretty strong performance through two periods, a resurgent Miami team came out of the dressing room for the third and went to work to erase the deficit. A Phil Knies wraparound goal was the end result of dogged Miami work below the goal line as Kiefer Sherwood and Lown each initiated handoffs with the puck leading to Knies' 11th goal of the year to pull within 3-2 just 1:42 into the final regulation.
Not satisfied with keeping it close, the RedHawks broke through with the tying tally 2:18 later as Melnick found Gordie Green in a soft spot in the middle and his shot found the net to even it up at 3-3.
The teams traded power play chances as the period wore on with North Dakota getting a crack with 11:52 left in regulation that Miami managed to kill off. With 6:16 to go, the RedHawks got a chance of their own, but Cam Johnson stood tall by making five saves before a Miami penalty ended it with 4:32 left. The Fighting Hawks threatened on the man advantage themselves, but came away with nothing. Miami nearly won it at the buzzer as Kiefer Sherwood was fed for a one-timer in transition, but Johnson made a stop to send the contest into overtime.
The lone shot of overtime ended the contest 59 seconds into the extra period for the Red & White as Grant Hutton stopped the puck at his blue line and fed Lown while the Fighting Hawks were in the midst of a line change. The freshman forward then beat Johnson to the far post with a wrist shot for his fourth goal of the season to put the RedHawks in the win column.
Miami outshot North Dakota by a 27-17 margin on the evening with Lown (1g, 1a) and Melnick (2a) each putting up multiple points. MU went 0-for-6 on the power play while UND finished 1-for-6 with the man advantage. Johnson made 23 saves for the Fighting Hawks and Larkin turned aside 14 shots for the Red & White.
These same teams wrap up their weekend series on Saturday evening. Prior to puck drop, the RedHawks will honor seniors Louie Belpedio, Scott Dornbrock and Conor Lemirande as part of Senior Night. Opening faceoff is at 7:05 p.m.
