OXFORD, Ohio – After outshooting No. 12/13 Western Michigan over the first two periods, the Miami hockey team got outscored 3-0 in the third and suffered a 5-1 loss on Friday night.
The RedHawks drop to 11-20-4 on the season, 5-16-2-1 in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play.
After a non-descript first seven minutes of play, the Broncos (19-13-1, 12-10-1-1 NCHC) went on a power play at the 7:01 mark. While nothing came of the man advantage, WMU retained possession and eventually took the lead when a point shot from Corey Schueneman put MU down 1-0 at the 9:11 mark. Miami followed by getting a power play of its own and nearly tied it up when a loose puck found
Casey Gilling in the middle, but his bid hit the post and Western Michigan escaped the minor penalty unscathed.
The RedHawks ultimately outshot the Broncos 8-7 in the opening frame, holding the puck in the zone for decent stretches of time. MU killed off another WMU power play late in the frame and got a man advantage of its own in the final minute, but did not connect as it trailed by a goal after 20 minutes.
Miami's carryover power play nearly tied things up when a loose puck squirted to
Josh Melnick at the back door, but he couldn't get much on the chance with the puck in his feet and Trevor Gorsuch covered it up before the puck could slide into the yawning net.
Western Michigan would get a power play of its own shortly after killing off the penalty and Colt Conrad put it up 2-0 when he skated into the zone and buried a shot to the top corner with 3:41 gone by in the middle frame.
Penalties marred the second period as the teams combined for seven power plays over the course of the period. During a seemingly rare instance of even-strength play, the Red & White finally got on the board when
Phil Knies beat Gorsuch five-hole from the right circle to cut the deficit to 2-1 with 6:04 showing on the clock. Line mates
Brian Hawkinson and
Jonathan Gruden each picked up helpers on Knies' sixth goal of the year.
MU got an opportunity to even the score when it went on a power play with 4:14 left in the period. Despite persistent zone time, Miami could not solve Gorsuch a second time in the frame. Things got scary as the penalty expired as Wade Allison was sprung for a breakaway immediately after exiting the penalty box, but
Ryan Larkin came up with a big stop to keep it a one-goal contest after two periods.
The Broncos registered the first six shots on goal of the third period and got goals from Lawton Courtnal and Paul Washe 48-seconds apart to take control of the game at 4-1. Miami pulled Larkin with under eight minutes left to try and get some offense going, but Wade Allison got a breakout pass and scored on the empty net to cap the scoring with 7:29 to go.
The Broncos outshot the RedHawks 24-23 on the night thanks to a 10-3 spread in the third. MU finished 0-for-6 on the power play while WMU went 1-for-5 on the man advantage. Larkin finished with 19 saves while Gorsuch made 22 stops.
Miami wraps up the regular season on Saturday with the series finale starting at 7:05 p.m.
