OXFORD, Ohio – A tight contest between Miami hockey and St. Cloud State went down to the wire, but a SCSU goal with 25.2 seconds left sent MU to a 2-1 loss on Friday night.
The RedHawks fall to 4-9-3 on the season (2-4-1-1 National Collegiate Hockey) with the result.
After an extended cycle by St. Cloud State (3-6-4, 1-4-0-0 NCHC) was finally muffled, Miami nearly got an early goal when
Gordie Green was fed ahead for a breakaway on a deft seam pass by
Rourke Russell. While Green was able to fool David Hrenak, his shot hit the crossbar and stayed out to keep this one scoreless.
Overall, play was fairly even for most of the first period and Miami started to establish some extended time in the offensive zone along with a 6-4 shot lead with under five minutes to go in the frame. Moments after SCSU hit a post, however, it got on the board when Jami Krannila get fed in for a breakaway goal with 2:41 left in the frame.
The Huskies went on a power play with just over two to play in the period and fired five shots during the two minutes, but the RedHawks emerged unscathed from that.
Ryan Savage had a step behind the defense coming out of the box, but time expired before he could make use of the breakaway as MU entered the dressing room down a goal.
Shots were tough to come by for both teams in the early minutes of the second with all that went on the board coming from a pair of sharp angle SCSU bids in the first three minutes. The RedHawks got their first power play of the evening with just over 15 minutes left in the middle stanza. While Miami put together a couple looks down low, the tying tally eluded it and the game remained 1-0.
An extended shift in the offensive zone for St. Cloud State created a penalty on Miami and an ensuing power play for SCSU. The Red and White killed that man advantage off with little difficulty and got a power play of their own with 2:27 remaining.
Phil Knies jammed away at a loose puck down low for a pair of shots that Hrenak steered aside. MU's power play was cut short by a goaltender interference penalty with 1:15 left and the deficit remained 1-0 after 40 minutes.
Miami played keep away to easily kill off the remaining 45 seconds of St. Cloud State's carryover power play. From there, MU was able to get to work. After digging the puck out in its own zone,
Karch Bachman got a head of steam on a zone entry. The senior winger made a move around a defender and threw the puck to the net.
Casey Gilling trailed the play and buried a backhand on the rebound to make it a 1-1 game at the 1:52 mark.
The RedHawks outshot the Huskies 9-8 in the third period and put together a couple shifts in the offensive zone to threaten to grab the lead. Miami went on a power play with 13:16 to go.
John Sladic wired one shot that hit the post during the man advantage, but it ultimately did not convert. MU got another power play with 6:09 left, but could not generate another goal and a penalty took that one off the board.
With time winding down, the Huskies got a puck out of the half wall and Easton Brodzinski found Luke Jaycox for a one-timer goal with 25.2 seconds showing on the clock. The RedHawks challenged the play looking for the officials to check for an offside, but the goal was upheld and the Huskies salted away the remainder of the game to pull out the win.
The Huskies ended up outshooting the RedHawks 28-21 on the night and both teams went 0-for-4 on the power play
