OXFORD, Ohio – Facing a 3-0 deficit for the second-straight night, Miami hockey's freshman class matured quickly as the RedHawks rallied for a 4-4 tie against New Hampshire on Saturday night.
Miami's freshman skaters combined for three goals and three assists in the tie.
The RedHawks got off to a strong start territorially, jumping out to a 6-1 shot advantage. However, a penalty at the 8:38 mark gave the Wildcats a chance to go on the attack and Angus Crookshank ended up redirecting home a point shot by Max Gildon to put them up 1-0 with 9:02 gone by.
Miami nearly answered on its next shift as
Noah Jordan got fed in close, but Mike Robinson held his ground. The bid drew a New Hampshire penalty, but MU was unable to connect on its power play as the score remained 1-0 into the first intermission despite Miami's 10-6 shot advantage.
Karch Bachman got sprung for a partial break on the first shift of the second, but his bid was denied by Robinson. Still, he drew a minor penalty on the play to give MU a shot at tying it up on the power play. Despite some good looks, UNH emerged unscathed from that man advantage and then killed off another power play moments later.
The Wildcats upped the lead to 2-0 at the 6:28 mark when Kohei Sato was fed in on a breakaway. New Hampshire then got to go on a 5-on-3 power play, which led to a Max GIldon goal to make it 3-0 with 8:54 left in the middle stanza.
Miami kept on grinding and got on the board with 6:19 left in the frame.
Alec Capstick sent the puck up ice and Jordan gained position to gather the puck at the half wall before feathering a pass to an oncoming
Chase Pletzke, who picked the corner for his first collegiate goal.
A UNH penalty gave MU another crack with the man advantage down the stretch. The fourth try on the power play was the charm as
Casey Gilling wired a shot from the high slot off all posts and in for his first of the season.
Derek Daschke and
Karch Bachman both picked up helpers as Miami pulled within 3-2 with 3:03 showing on the clock.
The Red & White weren't done there, however, as
John Sladic raced to a loose puck into the offensive zone, pulled up and picked a corner for his first career goal with 7.5 seconds showing on the clock.
Jack Clement picked up an assist by flinging an aerial pass down ice and Daschke also earned his second helper of the night on the play as the score was all squared at 3-3 through 40 minutes.
Sladic added another tally just 1:23 into the third by chipping home a centering feed from
Scott Corbett. Clement also added an assist for his first career multi-point night as the Red & White grabbed their first lead of the weekend at 4-3.
Trailing for the first time in the series, the Wildcats outshot the RedHawks by an 11-6 margin in the final 20 minutes of regulation. A minor penalty at the 10:16 mark gave UNH a power play, but MU was equal to the task and did not allow a single shot on goal during a scoreless two minute stretch. However, Miami was called for another minor right after the power play expired and New Hampshire knotted the score with 5:46 left as Patrick Grasso finished a backdoor feed with six seconds left on the man advantage.
The RedHawks put on some pressure in the waning moments, but were unable to put one in at the horn as the contest wore on into overtime. A partial break for
Gordie Green led to him getting taken down with 1:39 left in the extra session. On the ensuing power play, MU put on plenty of pressure and had the puck loose near the crease, but were unable to jam one home as the contest ended in a tie.
Miami outshot New Hampshire 32-25 on the night and went 1-for-5 on the power play, though UNH finished 3-for-5 on the man advantage. Making his first career start,
Ben Kraws stopped 21 shots while Robinson had 28 stops at the other end. Sladic netted his first two career goals while both Daschke and Clement chipped in two assists for multi-point nights.
The RedHawks wrap up their season-opening five-game home stand with a weekend series against Ferris State that starts at 7:05 p.m. on Friday.
