OXFORD, Ohio – A few bad bounces in the third period dug the Miami hockey team into a hole it couldn't climb out of in a 5-3 loss to St. Cloud State on Saturday night.
The RedHawks (4-10-3, 2-5-1-1 National Collegiate Hockey) suffered their second-straight sweep.
Miami had a slight advantage in the run of play over the first few minutes and grabbed a 4-2 shot advantage at the first media timeout. Even so, St. Cloud State took advantage of an icing as it won an offensive zone faceoff and Nick Poehling got free at the center point to fling a low wrist shot through traffic and in with 9:10 remaining in the first.
Undeterred, the RedHawks had a quick answer. After denying a Husky zone entry,
Scott Corbett gathered the puck at the left wall and skated in freely before dishing to
Chase Pletzke crashing at the net. The freshman got the back of his stick blade on the feed to knock it home for his fourth goal of the season to even the score.
Rourke Russell also assisted on the tally.
MU was put shorthanded after an offensive zone penalty with over four minutes left in the frame, but killed the power play off with little difficulty. The RedHawks threatened at the closing seconds with Russell blasting a one-timer on a rush, but David Hrenak keeping the puck out as the teams went to the locker room deadlocked at 1-1.
The Huskies came out firing to start the second, taking five shots in the first two minutes, but
Grant Valentine steered each aside. The RedHawks then established play in the offensive zone for a few shifts, getting a close range backhand shot by
Ryan Savage and a transition bid by
John Sladic that Hrenak kept out. With over 12 minutes to go in the frame, Jami Krannila got fed behind the defense at the right wing, but Valentine stayed with him to make a breakaway stop.
MU had some more time in the zone as
Karch Bachman created a few shots that Hrenak knocked away. SCSU finally put a shift together in the offensive zone and drew a penalty. On the power play, Miami had a transition opportunity, but a collision with Hrenak created another MU penalty that handed the Huskies a 5-on-3. While Valentine made some quality saves over the prolonged two-man advantage, Spencer Meier eventually fired a one-timer in to give St. Cloud a 2-1 lead.
Right after the 5-on-3 goal,
Gordie Green nearly tied things up when he was fed in front on his off wing, but Hrenak again was there to make the save as the 2-1 score held into the second intermission.
Miami killed off a carryover power play to begin the third and started to get set up in the offensive zone hunting for the tying goal. The comeback bid went awry, however, when a point shot was blocked and turned into a St. Cloud State 2-on-1 rush that Jack Poehling finished with 3:17 gone by in the third period to make it a 3-1 game. The Huskies then made it 4-1 when Kevin Fitzgerald got fed with room in the neutral zone as he stepped in and wired a shot home with 9:58 remaining.
The RedHawks clawed back within 4-2 at the 14:05 mark when
Christian Mohs made a move on a rush and buried his second career goal.
Monte Graham and
Andrew Sinard picked up helpers on the tally.
St. Cloud State answered that tally 1:20 later when Sam Hentges wired a rebound in from a sharp angle to make it 5-2.
Casey Gilling scored at the doorstep on a
Karch Bachman feed with
Gordie Green also earning an assist with 2:36 left, but that was as close as MU would get.
The Huskies outshot the RedHawks 35-30 on the evening and went 1-for-4 on the power play while killing off the only Miami man advantage. Valentine made 30 saves in his second straight start.
Miami is off until Dec. 30 when it heads to Bowling Green. Opening faceoff is set for 7:07 p.m.
