Games 35-36
Friday, March 8 • 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, March 9 • 7:05 p.m.
Steve 'Coach' Cady Arena (3,019) • Oxford, Ohio

Miami RedHawks (11-19-4, 5-15-2-1 NCHC) vs. No. 12/13 Western Michigan Broncos (18-13-1, 11-10-1-1 NCHC)
TV/Stream: NCHC.tv
Radio: 1490 AM-WKBV/Tune In Radio (Greg Waddell-pbp; Drew Davis-analyst)

MATCHUP
Miami concludes its regular season slate with a home set against Western Michigan this weekend.
THE SERIES: Western Michigan won a couple one-goal decisions in Kalamazoo earlier this season, though Miami holds the all-time series lead at 68-65-11.

PUCK POINTS
• Miami's freshman class has combined for 69 points (17g, 52a), tied for 13th most in the country.

• Junior goaltender Ryan Larkin has started 94 of Miami's 107 games since his freshman season in 2016-17.

• Senior forward Josh Melnick is tied for 45th in program history with 107 career points. He is one away from Craig Fisher for 44th and two behind Brian Savage for 43rd.

• Freshman defenseman Derek Daschke (21 points in 34 games) is MU's first defenseman with 20 points in a season since Matthew Caito had 21 in 2012-13.

• All 29 of senior blue liner Grant Hutton's career goals have come since his sophomore year and his goal total is the third most all-time among Miami defensemen.

• Miami has allowed 30 or more shots on goal in 22 of its last 25 games, something that only happened twice in its first nine games.

• Miami has been tied or within a goal at some point in the third period in 15 of its last 20 games.

LAST TIME OUT
Miami dropped a pair of tight battles to No. 3 Minnesota Duluth on the road over the weekend. The RedHawks opened up Friday night getting outshot 11-2 in the first period, but Ryan Larkin's play in the crease left it scoreless. UMD would get a couple Noah Cates goals to grab a 2-0 lead in the second, but a Phil Knies tally pulled MU within one entering the third. The Bulldogs grabbed a 3-1 lead right away in the frame, but Ryan Siroky made it a 3-2 with 15:27 left before UMD put the game away at the 8:04 mark to secure a 4-2 win. The teams went back and forth on Saturday, with the Red & White responding from two goals 90 seconds in by the Bulldogs to score three first-period power play goals to leave the score tied at 3-3. MU eventually grabbed a 5-4 lead 7:39 into the second, but UMD struck on the power play before intermission and scored the lone tally in the third to prevail 6-5 and sweep the series.

COACH BLASI
Enrico Blasi (Miami '94) is in his 20th season behind the RedHawk bench. He is a five-time CCHA Coach of the Year and was named National Coach of the Year in 2005-06. He is the RedHawks' all-time winningest coach with a 398-307-76 record at his alma mater, which he has taken to 10 NCAA Tournaments, including two Frozen Four berths, a National Championship game appearance, a trio of CCHA regular-season titles and two conference tournament titles.

ABOUT WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Broncos have lost their last three contests, getting outscored 21-8 in the process as they have dropped a pair of 8-2 decisions in that span. WMU sits fourth in the NCHC with an 11-10-1-1 record, four points ahead of North Dakota for the final home ice spot for next week's NCHC Playoffs. Western Michigan's sixth nationally in scoring at 3.44 goals per game and features four skaters with 10 or more goals as Josh Passolt and Hugh McGing both have 16 tallies. Cam Lee is WMU's highest scoring defenseman with 23 points. The defense has been an issue as Western Michigan allows 3.31 goals per game (47th nationally) with Trevor Gorsuch starting 26 of 32 games in goal and posting a 2.93 goals against average with a .902 save percentage.

QUITE A DEBUT: Freshman defenseman Derek Daschke has been enjoying quite the debut season for the Red & White. His 21 points (6g, 15a) lead all Miami blue liners while ranking third on the team overall and posting a team-best +4 rating. Daschke is the first MU freshman defenseman to record at least 20 points in a season since Matthew Caito notched 21 in 42 games during the 2012-13 season

GOING GREEN: Junior forward Gordie Green enjoyed a breakout sophomore campaign and hopes to build on that after leading the RedHawks with 33 points on 15 goals and 18 assists a year ago. Green's status as a go-to scorer started midway through his freshman campaign as he adjusted to the college level. In his last 90 games dating back to December of 2016, Green has 74 points on 33 goals and 41 assists and his 25 points (11g, 14a) this year are second on the team.

WELCOME RETURN: Senior forward Josh Melnick returned to the lineup on Feb. 1 after missing six games due to injury. He made his presence felt immediately by assisting on MU's lone tally at St. Cloud State to extend his career-best point streak to eight games at the time. His return was a sorely needed boost to the lineup given how MU performed without him.

	With Melnick	Without Melnick
Record	11-13-4	0-6
G/Gm	2.6	1.3
GA/Gm	2.8	3.8
SOG/Gm	27.5	24.2
SOGA/Gm	31.5	34.2
PP%	19.4% (21/108)	5.3% (1/19)

TOUGH ROAD AHEAD: As usual, the meat of the NCHC schedule has done no favors to Miami as it has played 14 of its last 18 games against teams in the top 14 of the Pair Wise. That doesn't figure to change as MU's last two regular season games come No. 14 Western Michigan with a looming road playoff series at either No. 1 St. Cloud State, No. 3 Minnesota Duluth or No. 6 Denver. The Red & White are 1-9-3 against teams in the PairWise top 15 this year (3-11-3 vs. the top 20). Miami's remaining slate has two road games at No. 3 Minnesota Duluth and a home set against No. 11 Western Michigan. 

SHOTS GETTING FIRED: More rubber has been getting to the Miami net since the first month of the calendar switched to November. MU has been outshot in 22 of its last 25 games, giving up at least 30 shots on goal 22 times after outshooting its foes in eight of its first nine outings when it was ninth nationally in shots on goal allowed per game (23.33).

TROUBLE PAST NINE: For whatever reason, Miami has found itself struggling once it's hit nine wins the last few seasons, something that has continued since the RedHawks moved to 9-5 with a Nov. 17 win at Colorado College.

	Record at 9th W	Record after	Final Record
2016-17	9-11-6	0-9-1	9-20-7
2017-18	9-8-2	3-12-3	12-20-5
2018-19	9-5	2-14-4	N/A

FRESH FACES LEADING THE WAY: With eight freshmen on the roster, the opportunity was going to be there for new players to make an impact and that's what has happened. The RedHawks' freshman class has combined for 69 points (17g, 52a), which is tied for 13th most nationally. Derek Daschke paces the newcomers with 21 points.

HE'S SEEN A LOT: Junior goaltender Ryan Larkin has been kept busy over his time in Oxford. Larkin's started 94 of the RedHawks' 107 games since his 2016-17 freshman campaign. The Clarkston, Mich., native debuted with a strong .910 save percentage as a freshman and made 30 or more saves 12 times that year. In his career, Larkin has 31 games where he has recorded at least 30 stops. He already owns two of Miami's top eight seasons in total saves with 905 as a freshman (third) and 863 in 2017-18 (eighth). His 2,450 career saves rank third in school history.

HUTTON FOR GOALS: Senior defenseman Grant Hutton provided Miami with a boom on defense thanks to his return. A year ago, Hutton led all NCAA defensemen with 13 goals, a total that was one off Miami's overall team lead. All 29 of Hutton's goals have come since his sophomore season and his career total is third all-time among Miami blue liners. Hutton has 20 points on seven goals and 13 assists this season.

CAUSING HAVOC: One player who has shown a knack for creating scoring chances with the potential to lengthen the Miami attack is junior forward Karch Bachman. Despite only scoring nine goals in his first two seasons, the Florida Panthers' 2015 draft pick has finished third in shots on goal in each of his first two campaigns and his 97 shots led all Miami forwards in 2017-18. Bachman has eight goals, including three game-winners, this season and leads the team lead with 114 shots on goal.

CHANGE OF VENUE: Among the newcomers to Miami this year are a pair of fifth-year transfers in defenseman River Rymsha (Dartmouth) and goaltender Jordan Uhelski (Alabama Huntsville). The duo are believed to be only the second and third postgraduate transfers in Miami hockey's history as they add another layer of experience to the roster. Uhelski was Alabama Huntsville's starting goaltender his last two years, logging 52 combined starts in 2016-17 and 2017-18. Rymsha played a career-high 28 games at Dartmouth last year and logged 69 games in four years with the Big Green. Uhelski holds a 2.96 goals against average and .902 save percentage in 12 games and Rymsha has seven points (3g, 4a) in 32 games.

A LOOK INSIDE THE BROTHERHOOD: A partnership with the NCHC and Miami hockey's equipment provider, STX, has led to the creation of The Season (Miami Hockey). This six-episode documentary series promises to take fans inside the RedHawks' preparation for the 2018-19 season. The first episode aired on Oct. 4 and fans can check out all six episodes on TheSeason2018.com.