Friday Night Ice - 12/4/09

Buckeyes and RedHawks emerge victorious with high-profile wins.

Oxford, Ohio -

The #1 ranked Miami RedHawks found a way to get back into the win column last night with a 1-0 victory over #14 Notre Dame at Steve Cady Arena.

Sophomore goaltender Cody Reichard stopped all 24 shots he faced and was superb all night as the RedHawks killed several Irish shorthanded opportunities while freshman defenseman Joe Hartman scored the only goal of the game during the first period. Miami's struggling penalty kill unit killed all 8 Irish powerplays as the officials were busy most of the evening. However, to be perfectly blunt, they were a cause of much of the problem as they were inconsistent and let the game get out of hand. Lost to a major penalty at the end of the first period was Miami junior captain Tommy Wingels who was assessed a checking from behind penalty which included a game misconduct so the RedHawks were playing without one of their top forwards for the final two periods. As Wingels went to check his man in the offensive zone, the Irish defenseman turned his back just before impact. Unfortunately, the officials did not see it that way and Wingels night was over. It was one of many poor officiating decisions throughout the evening.

With the victory, the RedHawks move to 10-2-5 (7-1-3 CCHA) on the season with Reichard improving his numbers to an astounding 9-1-2 with a 1.46 goals-against average and 93.4 save percentage. It was his second shutout of the season and he even threw in a minor penalty for roughing in earning first star honors.

• Miami has now won the last three games in this series earning shutouts in two of them.
• The RedHawks debuted a new "throwback" sweater that will be worn to commemorate Miami's bicentennial anniversary. (New Miami sweater)
• Tonight's rematch will be televised across the great state of Ohio at 7pm on ONN.

Columbus, Ohio -

The Ohio State Buckeyes are slowly rounding into shape.

Coming off last weekend's big win over previously #6 Bemidji State, the Buckeyes continued their solid play defeating Michigan 5-3 at Value City Arena despite being outshot 45-20. Looking for more consistency, and wins, on Friday night, head coach John Markell started his "Saturday" goaltender, sophomore Cal Heeter and he and the Buckeyes responded with an important league victory that included an appearance of "Script Ohio on Ice." (Script Ohio)

Ohio State led 2-0 after one period, but Michigan responded in the second period with a 17-4 SOG advantage to even the score at 2. The Buckeyes would regain the lead at 12:41 of the third period on freshman defenseman Devin Krogh's first career goal. In fact, Krogh was an amazing +5 on the evening elevating him into "Death & Taxes" territory.

With the win, the Buckeyes could be rounding into shape. They improve to 7-9-1 (5-5-1 CCHA) and perhaps have found their answer in net with Cal Heeter's back-to-back outstanding efforts in beating Bemidji and Michigan. On the other hand, after winning three straight to right the ship, and after being named College Hockey News Team of the Week for sweeping Minnesota and Wisconsin in the College Hockey Showcase (e.g., Big 10 Hockey Showcase), the Maize and Blue have fallen into a last place tie in the CCHA at 7-8 overall and 3-6 in the league.

• It was Heeter's first start on Friday night replacing junior Dustin Carlson. He is now 6-2-1 with a 2.82 GAA and 91.1 save percentage.
• This was the first of four games vs. Michigan and Miami as the Buckeyes host the RedHawks next Friday at Value City Arena and travel to Oxford for the Saturday contest.
• Sophomore Zac Dalpe continues to pace the Buckeyes with nine goals and 18 points.
• Tonight's rematch is scheduled for 8pm at Value City Arena. A season's best 5,182 attended last night's contest.