ST. CLOUD, Minn. – A
River Rymsha goal 24 seconds into the third pulled the Miami hockey team within a goal, but No. 1 St. Cloud State pulled away down the stretch to post a 5-2 win on Friday.
The Huskies (28-4-3) grab the opening game in the best-of-three playoff series.
Miami (11-22-4) generated a good early chance as
Ben Lown got the puck atop the St. Cloud crease on the first shift, but David Hrenak stuck with the point-blank chance to make a save. MU had a 4-2 shot advantage, but SCSU would get on the board first as Nick Poehling tipped a point shot by Jack Ahcan at the 3:43 mark to go up 1-0.
The RedHawks put some sustained pressure in the offensive zone and got some more looks from in close as
Grant Hutton drove the net for a chance that Hrenak knocked aside and then did likewise with a rebound bid by
Christian Mohs.
Despite the zone time, Miami was unable to find a tying goal over the large stretch of puck possession and was put shorthanded on an offensive zone penalty with 3:36 to go on the clock. The Huskies added to their lead with the man advantage as Robby Jackson found a loose puck at the back door to make it a 2-0 game at intermission.
Miami went on its first power play of the evening with 6:07 gone by in the second, but was unable to generate much and St. Cloud killed it off without incident. As the period wore on, MU's sustained zone time finally paid off when an
Alec Mahalak point shot hit
Ben Lown in the arm and went in with 8:34 left in the frame. Rymsha also assisted on Lown's fourth tally of the year, which cut the gap to 2-1.
A blocked clearing attempt allowed the Huskies to regain their two-goal lead as Ryan Poehling redirected a backdoor feed from Nick Poehling to make it a 3-1 game with 5:30 left in the middle stanza. That would cap the scoring in the period as the Red & White remained down a couple.
Rymsha blasted home a point shot 24 seconds into the third following
Jonathan Gruden's faceoff win in the offensive zone to cut the gap back to a goal at 3-2.
That momentum was short lived as Ahcan upped the lead to 4-2 three and a half minutes later during a delayed penalty. While MU kept SCSU from converting on its man advantage, it was once again trailing by two goals.
Miami would get a power play with 10:11 left, but was unable to put a dent into its deficit as the clock wore on into the later stages of the third. The Huskies would get another goal from Easton Brodzinski to put it away with 3:48 to go.
St. Cloud State finished with a 37-25 edge in shots and converted on 1-of-2 power plays and killed off both Miami man advantages. Rymsha posted his second multi-point game of the season in the setback.
Ryan Larkin put up 32 saves for the Red & White while Hrenak made 23 stops for the Huskies.
MU looks to keep its season alive on Saturday in game two of the best-of-three series. Opening faceoff is at 7:07 p.m. ET.
