No. 6 Pioneers Top RedHawks 5-2 in Series Finale

Saturday, February 22

Oxford, Ohio

6:05 p.m.

Miami University

3-25-2, 0-20-0

Denver

23-8-1, 12-7-1

Denver

Miami (OH)

Photo by: Elena Mueller

No. 6 Pioneers Top RedHawks 5-2 in Series Finale

2/22/2025 8:50:00 PM | Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

OXFORD, Ohio– The Miami University hockey team fell 5-2 to No. 6/7 Denver Saturday night at Steve "Coach" Cady Arena in the teams' series finale.

Hampus Rydqvist and Conner Hutchison had the goals for the RedHawks (3-25-2, 0-20-0 NCHC). Aidan Thompson and Zeev Buium each had a goal and an assist to lead the Pioneers (23-8-1, 12-7-1 NCHC) offensively.

HOW IT HAPPENED

9:55 1st (Denver 1-0) | The Pioneers opened the scoring near the midway point of the first period. Thompson sent a diagonal pass to Boston Buckberger, with Carter King in position near the goalpost to knock home the rebound after Buckberger's initial shot.
16:41 1st (Denver 2-0) | Denver doubled its lead later in the period on a backdoor feed from Jared Wright to Kieran Cebrian. Cebrian's quick finish made it 2-0 in favor of Denver. Rieger Lorenz also picked up an assist on the scoring play.
5:33 2nd (Miami 2-1) | Rydqvist got the RedHawks on the board with a wraparound goal while the teams were skating 4-on-4. Johnny Waldron started the play, eluding the Denver defense and finding Rydqvist with a pass. Rydqvist and Raimonds Vitolins exchanged passes, with Rydqvist then working his way behind the Denver net and stuffing home a shot on the far side to make it 2-1.
18:33 2nd (Denver 3-1) | Buium took a one-timer to the back of the net late in the second period to push Denver's lead to 3-1. Kent Anderson received the puck at the right point and relayed it to Buium in the center of the zone. Buium and Jack Devine traded passes to set up Buium's score.
19:19 2nd (Miami 3-2) | The Red and White answered back less than a minute later to trim the deficit to one. Hutchison collected a pass from Michael Quinn and fired from a tough angle near the goal line to beat DU's Freddie Halyk. Blake Mesenburg battled behind the net to keep the play alive initially and earned the secondary assist for sending the puck around the boards to Quinn.
10:30 3rd (Denver 4-2) | Jake Fisher shoveled the puck past RedHawk goaltender Ethan Dahlmeir midway through the third period and upped the Pioneers' lead to 4-2. Garrett Brown skated the puck around behind the net and then hit Buium at the blue line for a long-range shot attempt. Fisher was in a crowd in front of the crease and finished off the rebound.
17:47 3rd (Denver 5-2) | The visitors capped the scoring with an empty-net opportunity late in the contest. Devine hit Thompson with the pass at center ice, and Thompson took it past the blue line and in to account for the 5-2 final.

NOTES

Waldron extended his point streak to three games, with a total of four points over that span.
Hutchison lit the lamp for the first time since the opening game of the season and finished with a +2 plus-minus rating, matching his highest as a RedHawk.
Hutchison was named the game's Third Star.
Rydqvist scored his first goal since Nov. 1.
Dahlmeir made 26 saves in net for Miami.

UP NEXT:
The RedHawks travel to Duluth, Minn. next weekend for the final road trip of the regular season. Miami faces off with the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs Friday, Feb. 28 at 8:07 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.