RedHawks Fall to No. 5 Pioneers

Saturday, January 25

Oxford, Ohio

7:05 p.m. ET

Miami University

6-14-4, 3-9-2-1

#5/5 Denver

17-4-5, 7-3-4-3

Denver

Miami

1/25/2020 9:56:00 PM | Hockey

Box Score Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Miami dropped its third straight.

OXFORD, Ohio – Despite 15 first period shots on goal, the Miami University hockey team was unable to grab a lead and ultimately dropped a 5-2 decision to No. 5 Denver on Saturday night.

With the result, the Pioneers (17-4-5, 7-3-4-3 National Collegiate Hockey) sweep the weekend series.

An early offensive zone penalty put Miami (6-14-4, 3-9-2-1 NCHC) shorthanded less than two minutes into the contest, and Ian Mitchell fired a shot that went through a screen by Kohen Olischefski to put Denver on the board during the subsequent power play at the 2:10 mark.

The RedHawks were able to put together a surge at the other end and raced out to an early 6-4 shot advantage. Miami was able to kill off a second Denver power play roughly eight minutes in before getting back to work offensively. After a point shot was stopped by Devin Cooley, Karch Bachman gathered the rebound behind the goal line and fed Derek Daschke at the blue line. The sophomore walked to the middle at the point and wired home his eighth goal of the year to even it up with 9:25 left in the first period. Matt Barry also earned an assist on the tying tally.

A point shot by @derekdaschke has 👀! Tie game.

Watch live: https://t.co/1ki3RyorcP #RiseUpRedHawks pic.twitter.com/3o7c5KOGY8
— Miami Hockey (@MiamiOH_Hockey) January 26, 2020

Miami continued to press for offense as the period wore on and eventually ended the frame with a 15-11 shots on goal advantage, but it was Denver that found the net before the horn as Olischefski netted his third of the weekend by converting a centering feed from Liam Finley to give the Pioneers a 2-1 lead at intermission.

The second period zoomed by as teams went 8:48 without a whistle at one point in the middle stanza. Over that stretch, DU outshot MU 7-1, though Miami had arguably the best opportunity when John Sladic fed Bachman in front of the crease in transition, but Devin Cooley made a point blank save to keep the Pioneers ahead.

A Miami turnover proved costly as Emilio Petterssen roofed a shot from the slot with 6:23 to go in the second period. While MU got a power play shortly after the tally, it did not convert as the two-goal deficit wore on into the latter stages.

Monte Graham gave the Red and White a lift with 2:49 left until the horn as he gathered the puck just inside the DU blue line, skated into the middle and wristed a low shot by Cooley for his fourth goal of the season to make it a 3-2 contest. Christian Mohs and Brian Hawkinson each earned assists on the tally as MU remained within a goal after 40 minutes.

This low shot by @Monte_Graham11 brings us back within a goal after two periods.

Watch live: https://t.co/1ki3RyorcP #RiseUpRedHawks pic.twitter.com/BXbhnVOgsU
— Miami Hockey (@MiamiOH_Hockey) January 26, 2020

Miami put some strong shifts together in the offensive zone as it pressed for a tying goal, but Denver managed to generate some transition offense by moving through the neutral zone and getting a Jaakko Heikkinen goal off a 2-on-1 rush with 4:11 gone by in the third, bumping the Pioneers' lead to 4-2. Mitchell would later add a goal to make it 5-2 with 11:27 left to cap the scoring.

Denver outshot Miami 28-21 for the night and went 1-for-4 on the power play while killing both MU man advantages. Ben Kraws made 23 saves in net.

Miami returns to the ice on Friday when it heads to St. Cloud State for a weekend NCHC series. The series opener begins at 8:07 p.m. ET.