Game #20 - Ohio State v. Miami

Miele's two goals lead #1 Miami to 4-2 victory over Ohio State

Oxford, Ohio (Dec. 12, 2009) - On Friday in Columbus, #1 ranked Miami skated to an easy 6-0 win over in-state foe Ohio State. On Saturday, the Buckeyes were determined to make it much more difficult on their archrivals.

Andy Miele scored two goals during a four-goal third period lifting Miami to a 4-2 win over Ohio State. Miele's first goal, a powerplay marker at 11:43 of the period forged a 2-2 tie. His second goal at 17:41 proved to be the game-winner as Miami rallied for the win.

The victory enabled the RedHawks to maintain their five-point cushion over second place Michigan State who finished off a two-game sweep of Bowling Green by winning 4-1. And, Miami retained their six-point lead over red hot Ferris State who also notched a weekend sweep downing Western Michigan 4-3.

Miami (13-2-5 overall, 10-1-3-1 CCHA) is now off until 2010 when they open the second half of the season with a non-conference home-and-home series against Robert Morris. The first game will be held in Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena on Friday, January 8 as part of the Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase. The Miami-RMU game will be the third of the day that will also see the Robert Morris women's team take on UConn (2pm) and the RMU club team against Penn State (5pm). Miami and RMU will conclude the series in Oxford on Sunday, January 10 before the RedHawks hit the road for a difficult, and lengthy, four-game trip to Big Rapids, Mich. and Fairbanks, Alaska. The Big Rapids trip looks to be one of the season's most important as Miami and Ferris State are separated by just six points in the standings. If Miami could sweep the Bulldogs, they will be in great position as the season winds down to finish among the top two in the CCHA. The following weekend, Miami travels to the great white north where they will face the University of Alaska in a grueling series against a Nanook team that always seems to play Miami tough.

For Ohio State (7-12-1, 5-8-1-1 CCHA), they have to put the first half of the season behind them and use the time over the holidays to regroup. With wins against top ten teams Denver and Bemidji State, the Buckeyes have shown an ability to play with the nation's elite. However, Saturday's loss after playing some of their best hockey for two periods has to be disappointing.

Unlike Friday, on Saturday night, the teams skated a fairly even, uneventful first period with both starting goaltenders seeing action - their first of the weekend as both coaches chose to start their alternate goalie. Buckeye starter, junior Dustin Carlson, was the busier of the two as he made 13 first period stops while Miami starter, sophomore Connor Knapp, made 8 saves in the scoreless first period.

However, the Buckeyes would breakthrough in the second period on junior Hunter Bishop's fifth goal of the season that ended the RedHawks school record scoreless streak at 239:13. It was the first goal Miami had surrendered since the third period of a 5-5 tie at North Dakota on November 28. A new scoreless streak would not last long as Ohio State got a powerplay goal just over three minutes later. Sophomore Zac Dalpe took a long feed from defenseman Matt Bartkowski and skated in alone on Knapp making a nice left-to-right deke and as the Miami goaltender went down far too early, Dalpe patiently waited and easily fired the puck into the top corner for his team-leading 10th goal of the year.

As the second period came to a close, the teams came together resulting in six minor penalties, but the scrum seemed to wake the RedHawks who came out flying in the third.

Miami got within one goal when freshman defenseman Steve Spinell picked off an errant clearing attempt and displayed some nice hands skating from the left point between the circles firing a wrister that Carlson stopped. But, Spinell stayed with his shot and picked up the rebound backhanding it through traffic just inside the far post for his first collegiate goal. Miele would then score twice to put the RedHawks up for good and senior Jarod Palmer added his 7th goal, an empty net tally at 19:33 to finish it.

In scoring four times in the third period, the RedHawks outshot the Buckeyes 17-9 in the stanza and 40-27 on the night. During the third periods of both games, the RedHawks outscored Ohio State 8-0. If nothing else, last year's title game loss to Boston University has taught the RedHawks that no game is EVER over.

Ohio State head coach John Markell tried to find a silver lining to describe the performance.

“I thought we played well, but it was a race to three and they beat us there,” said Markell. “We had a couple of chances to make it three and that would have secured the game. I saw a lot of good things tonight from our team, and I like the way we responded to Friday night’s game.” (USCHO)

The Buckeyes resume play on January 8 when they host Bowling Green in a CCHA series at Value City Arena. They finish the first half of the season in 9th place, but just one point out of sixth where there is a three-way tie between Notre Dame, Nebraska-Omaha and Northern Michigan.

Notes

• Miami's Alden Hirschfeld posted a two-point game with assists on Spinell's goal and Miele's game-winner.
  
• Here is a link to the official box score. (USCHO)
• Miami goaltender Connor Knapp made 22 saves to improve his record to 3-1-3 with a solid 2.18 GAA and 91.3 save percentage.
• Miele's two goals enabled him to regain the top point spot on Miami's roster. He now leads the team with 19 points on 7 goals.
• Jarod Palmer had a three-point night with assists on both Miele goals and his empty-net goal that iced it.
  
• OSU's Dustin Carlson made his first start in five games and is now just 1-8 on the season with a 2.94 GAA and 91.0 save percentage.
  

Friday Round-up

The Jackets bounced back from Wednesday's 9-1 drubbing with a shootout victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday winning by a 3-2 final. The Captain iced the game in the shootout scoring an "interesting" goal after nearly falling down during his approach toward Jean-Sebastian Giguere. As Nash made his approach from his right to left, it appeared that he nearly lost his footing, and with all of his weight on his right foot, and his left in the air like this he surprised Giguere with a roof shot above the right shoulder of the Ducks netminder.

Kristian Huselius was huge in his return to the lineup with a goal, an assist and the shootout winner, and though Raffi Torres was placed on IR freeing a roster spot for Juice, it's clear we trade grit for skill in that exchange. In addition, Ken Hitchcock gave a start to Mathieu Garon, and he did not disappoint making 32 saves and improving to 17-4 all-time in shootouts. Garon made several nice stops but a glove save on Ryan Getzlaf when the game was tied at 2 was probably his best of the evening. And, in playing so well, does this set up a goaltending controversy? Will Garon get another opportunity Monday night or does Hitchcock return Steve Mason to the lineup with an ultimatum?

Next up for the Jackets? Monday night at Nationwide as the homestand concludes against the Edmonton Oilers at 7pm. Assuming an empty building on a Friday night is a predictor of Monday's attendance, I think it's fair to suggest there are still good seats available. The lower bowl looked to be pretty sparse which is not a good indication for a franchise that purportedly is struggling with financial issues.

Around the college game, Ohio State defeated Western Michigan 4-2 on the strength of three goals in 49 seconds as the Buckeyes rallied from a 1-0 third period deficit. Junior netminder Dustin Carlson (Forest Lake, Minn.) made 19 stops to earn his first victory of the season. And, it was the first time this season Ohio State has won on Friday night. With the win, Ohio State improves to 4-6-1 and 3-3-1-1 in the CCHA. The two teams will meet again this evening at Value City Arena at 8:05pm.

In Bowling Green, Ohio, the Bowling Green Falcons earned their first win of the 2009-10 season by upsetting #9 Alaska 3-1. Many in college hockey circles have questioned the legitimacy of the Nanooks as they had not yet played a game outside the state of Alaska. With the win, the Falcons improve to 1-7-1 and 1-3-1-1 in the CCHA. Despite being outshot 25-17, the Falcons potted a goal in each period with highly regarded freshman, and Jordan Samuels-Thomas (Windsor, Conn.) scoring his fourth goal of the season. Samuels-Thomas was selected by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 7th round of this year's entry draft and stands 6'2" making him an interesting prospect if he continues his rapid development. With the loss, the Nanooks fall to 6-2-1 (3-2 CCHA) and have had a little of their early season luster removed. The teams conclude their weekend series this evening at the BGSU Ice Arena at 7:35pm.

In Oxford, Ohio, #1 Miami and Ferris State played to a 2-2 tie with the Bulldogs earning an extra point in the CCHA standings by winning a shootout. The game is viewed nationally and for the purposes of RPI and NCAA tournament selection as a tie because the CCHA is the only college hockey conference that has decided to settle ties with a shootout. So, Miami moves to 8-1-2 overall and 5-1-1 in the CCHA while Ferris moves to 7-3-1 and 2-2-1-1. Ferris got on the board first in the second period on a goal from senior forward Blair Riley at 1:50, but Miami would tie it on a shorthanded goal from freshman defenseman Joe Hartman (St. Cloud, Minn.) at 19:59 of the second period. Miami led 2-1 with less than a minute left in regulation, but as has become this team's most concerning problem, the RedHawks were again unable to hold down the fort after Ferris State pulled their goaltender with around a minute to play. In fact, of their last eight games where an opponent has pulled their goaltender for an extra skater, Miami has surrendered goals in six games. And, in two of those games, Miami allowed more than one extra attacker goal, no larger than the two they gave Boston University in last spring's national title game. What's worse is that Miami has only scored empty netters in two of those eight games. Extra attacker defense must be a point of emphasis going forward. It's getting to the point where you wonder if a team isn't better off playing without a goaltender for longer stretches of time just to test it.

Ferris State and #1 Miami conclude their weekend series tonight at 7:35pm from Steve Cady Arena. The game can be seen around the great state of Ohio on ONN.

Friday Night Ice

In the biggest college game of the evening, #1 Miami continued their hot start defeating #4 Michigan 3-1 in front of an overflow crowd of 6,817 at venerable Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Miami jumped on the Wolverines early and never looked back getting two goals from senior forward Jarod Palmer (Fridley, Minn.) and taking a 2-0 lead before 10 minutes had elapsed in the first period.

Michigan would dominate the second period, scoring once, but sophomore goaltender Cody Reichard (Celina, Ohio) was outstanding stopping a penalty shot and several good Wolverine chances. Michigan was aided by four RedHawk penalties which enabled them to get many of their chances. However, Reichard made 13 of his 27 saves in the period as Miami weathered the storm and carried a 2-1 lead into the final stanza. In getting the win, Reichard remained unbeaten improving to 6-0-1 and lowering his goals against average to a stellar 1.67.

In the third, Miami completely dominated the tempo and open ice, challenging every loose puck and winning the puck possession battle. The fourth line came through with a nice goal when senior forward Brandon Smith (Pepper Pike, Ohio) took a nifty feed from senior Dane Hetland (Bridgeville, Penn.) and surprised Michigan netminder Bryan Hogan with a quick shot that beat the junior through his pads. The play began when sophomore defenseman Cameron Schilling (Carmel, Ind.) made an aggressive move at the blueline by streaking in from his left point to keep the puck in the zone down beneath the face-off dot. Schilling knocked the puck away from a Wolverine forward to Hetland who made a pretty stickhandling move through a Michigan defender's legs and found Smith open heading toward the net.

The two goal lead was all Miami needed as they completely shut down the speed and cross-ice passing that Michigan has so effectively utilized over the years against the RedHawks. With the win, Miami improves to an impressive 7-1-1 (4-1 CCHA) while Michigan falls to 4-3 (2-1).

Tomorrow night's series finale will be played at 7:35pm from Ann Arbor and can be seen around the great state of Ohio on ONN and on Comcast in SE Michigan.


The state's other two teams did not fare as well as the RedHawks.

• From Columbus, Ohio - The Ohio State Buckeyes' Friday night struggles continued as OSU dropped a 1-0 decision to slow-starting Northern Michigan. The Wildcats entered tonight's game just 1-4-1 overall. But, Northern Michigan took an early lead by scoring the game's only goal just 22 seconds into the game and it held up as surprising Reid Ellingson got the shutout in net for NMU.
  
• With the win, NMU improves to 2-4-1 (1-2 CCHA) and the Buckeyes fall to 2-6-1 (1-3-1-1).
• The series finale is tomorrow night at 7:05pm from Schottenstein Center.

• From Big Rapids, Mich. - The lowly Bowling Green Falcons remained winless on the season dropping a lopsided 5-1 decision to Bob Daniels' Ferris State Bulldogs.
• The Falcons fell to 0-6-1 (0-2-1-1 CCHA) and the Bulldogs improved their record to 4-2 (1-2) on the young season.
  

Quick Hits

Well, I missed my first deadline yesterday and was unable to post a preview of the Miami/MSU series from Oxford. So, I'll try to make it up with a mini-recap of last night's game.

• From Oxford, the #1 Miami RedHawks improved to 4-0-1 (1-0 CCHA) with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Michigan State Spartans (3-2, 0-1). Captain Tommy Wingels netted both goals for Miami including the game-winner at 18:02 of the third period.
• Sophomore goaltender Cody Reichard made 24 saves, including one on a penalty shot, to improve to 3-0-1 (technically, he picked up the "and one" when he came into last Saturday's 5-5 tie vs. UNH trailing 5-3.) Reichard's goals against average is a minuscule 1.66 and his save percentage is a robust 92.4. Certainly Cody has not been affected by the BU loss in the national title game, he has been extremely solid.
• The officiating last night was fairly inconsistent and seemed tilted toward MSU. I know Miami is a very big team, but they seem to draw a disproportionate number of penalties for infractions that, at least to the untrained eye, appear to be committed by both teams. Miami was just 1-8 on the powerplay while MSU cashed in on one of seven chances so it was definitely a penalty-filled affair.
• There are many things that I am beginning to like about this team. First and foremost is their strength and will to win. They are finding ways to get it done early, late, no matter. The RedHawks are driven with many different contributors every night.
• Sophomore and reigning CCHA Defensive Player of the Week, Matt Tomassoni, was a healthy scratch last night. Freshman Steve Spinnell took Tomassoni's spot in the lineup.
  
• MSU senior goaltender Bobby Jarosz was solid for the Spartans making 26 saves, but to be honest, Miami hit at least 3 posts so he was definitely helped by the iron.
  
• Unfortunately, I wasn't in Oxford last night so I watched the game on ONN. OSU radio play-by-play man, Neil Sika, who has been the sideline reporter for ONN's Miami hockey coverage was in the booth next to "Diamond" Dave Allen last night. Neil was a big upgrade and I'd love to see him there every week providing analysis, but I assume he has to manage around OSU broadcasts. However, the Buckeyes did play last night so I guess we got Neil because he is no longer in the booth for them or Ohio State didn't take a broadcast team to Sault Ste. Marie which is common for them on long road trips. Regardless, I hope we get more of him.
  
• Another great source for Miami hockey news is the MU Hockey Blog. Alex posted a preview of the series at http://bit.ly/1WMmH6
• Full time coverage can be found at http://muredhawkshockey.blogspot.com
• Overall against MSU, Miami is just 24-66-5 all time, but current Miami seniors are 6-2. And since 2000, the series is nearly even with MSU holding a 14-12 advantage including a victory in the 2006 CCHA Championship Game in Detroit when Jeff Lerg outdueled Jeff Zatkoff in a 2-1 classic.
• Much has been made about MSU's epic collapse last season to an unheard of 11th place finish in the CCHA. This season is about redemption for them. There were multiple disciplinary and injury issues last year, but that was by far the worst season I've ever seen out of a Michigan State team. Remember, they won the national title at the end of the 2007 season. Then finish 11th of 12 league teams just two years removed. Fortunately for head coach Rick Comley (Lake Superior '72), his resume speaks for itself. He's led two different schools to national titles (Northern Michigan in 1991 and MSU in 2007) and has a career record that is mind-boggling. Overall in his coaching career, he is 752-586-100 in 37 seasons.
• The two teams will meet again on Bicentennial Homecoming at Miami. Puck drops at 8:05pm from beautiful Goggin Ice Center and the game will again be televised on ONN throughout the great state of Ohio.
  

In other action, Ohio State entered the 3rd period in Sault Ste. Marie holding a 2-1 lead over Lake Superior State. However, the Buckeyes were unable to hold the lead, which has been a common occurrence so far this year, and fell 3-2 to the Lakers as junior forward Rick Schofield scored the game-winning goal with 20 seconds remaining in regulation.

• Ohio State is now 1-4 on the season (0-1 CCHA) while the Lakers continued their strong start moving to 4-1 (1-0).
• The Buckeyes and Lakers meet again tonight from the Soo at 7:05pm.

Across the nation, there were several good matchups as conference play began in earnest.

• From Minneapolis, Minn., the #4 Denver Pioneers returned to the win column by defeating the #11 Minnesota Golden Gophers 3-0 in WCHA play. As was the case last Friday in Columbus, junior netminder Marc Cheverie made 30 saves en route to his second consecutive shutout. Cheverie has now made 66 consecutive saves over his last two outings and I would expect to see him in the net tonight from Mariucci Arena as well.
• From Anchorage, Alaska, the #2 North Dakota Fighting Sioux engineered a dominating performance by defeating the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves 5-0. Freshman goaltender Aaron Dell made his Sioux debut memorable by making just 16 saves to pick up his first win and shutout and five different skaters potted goals for North Dakota.
• Finally, to round-out CCHA coverage, Ferris State and Western Michigan picked up non-conference wins against Robert Morris and UAH, respectively, while Northern Michigan lost a late lead and settled for a 3-3 tie against last season's Frozen Four surprise, Bemidji State. Notre Dame was unable to build on Tuesday's win against BU and fell at home to BC 3-2. Finally, the Bowling Green Falcons remained winless on the season getting blown out at home by Providence of Hockey East 8-2.
  

Ohio State at Lake Superior State - Oct 23-24

Doug Weight. Brian Rolston. Jim Dowd. John Grahame. Bates Battaglia. Ron Mason. Rick Comley. These are just a few of the recognizable names that have graced the campus of Lake Superior State University in Sault Saint Marie, Michigan.

In the late 80s and early 90s the "Soo" was the place to be in college hockey.

In 1988, the Lakers won their first of three national titles in six years by defeating St. Lawrence University in Lake Placid, N.Y. "Miracle" might even have been an appropriate term for the Lakers success because with an enrollment of around 3,000 undergraduates, Lake Superior State is one of the smallest Division I schools to win a national title in any sport.

The 1988 title was overseen by head coach Frank Anzalone, while current Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson piloted the Lakers to three consecutive finals appearances from 1992-1994 winning it all in '92 and '94. Incidentally, the 1993 team lost a 5-4 heartbreaker to Maine or it would have been three straight Soo championships. And, just for the record, that '93 Maine team might have been the best college hockey team of all time. Some guy named Paul Kariya scored 100 points in just 39 games that year with 25 goals and a mind boggling 75 assists to guys like Jim Montgomery and Peter and Chris Ferraro. And, if they couldn't outscore you, they were backstopped by former Team USA Olympic netminders Garth Snow (currently the GM for the New York Islanders) and Mike Dunham.

Maine went 42-1-2 that year. No big deal.

But, after Jackson left Lake State, the program began a sharp decline from which it has been unable to recover. Gone are the prized recruits, the packed Taffy Abel Arena and the masterful coaching legends. Even a second stint by Frank Anzalone behind the bench was not enough to get the program back to its lofty standards earlier this decade. To truly illustrate how dominant Lake Superior was, consider that since 2000, and through last weekend, the Lakers have won 105 games. In the four seasons between 1990 and 1994, the year of their last national title, they won 129 games. To say the current decade has been "lost" might be an understatement.

Lakers coach Jim Roque (LSSU '87) is entering his 5th season behind the bench in the Soo. He has compiled a respectable 60-74-25 record and has stabilized the program. Entering this weekend's series against Ohio State, the Lakers have won 3 of their first 4 games including a split in the Superior Showcase which features Northern Michigan, Michigan Tech, Minnesota-Duluth and Lake Superior State. The Lakers fell to Duluth, but bounced back to defeat Michigan Tech, both of the WCHA. Last weekend, Lake State swept Canisius of Atlantic Hockey by scores of 5-4 and 3-0.

The Lakers (3-1, 0-0) look to be built from the net out. They return seven of their top eight defensemen from last season and a solid, experienced goaltender. However, putting the puck in the net could be a challenge. The Lakers lost three of their top five goal scorers from a year ago, and only senior Zac MacVoy (Livonia, Mich.) and sophomore Fred Cassiani (Toronto, Ont.) scored at least 10 goals last season. Currently, Lake is led by reigning CCHA Rookie of the Week Domenic Monardo (Oakville, Ont.) and his four assists and five points. Senior Brad Cooper (Coppell, Tex.) has a team-best two goals and is one of four Lakers with four points this season. In net, the Lakers feature dependable junior Brian Mahoney-Wilson (West Roxbury, Mass.) who has started all four games and has a 2.26 goals-against average and .911 save percentage. Last season, the Lakers finished just 11-20-8 overall and failed to secure home ice in the first round of the CCHA playoffs by finishing 10th the regular season. However, the Lakers were in most of their games and this year must find a way to win the close ones. They were a disappointing 1-12 in games decided by one goal - no way to go through life in the ultra-competitive CCHA.

Head coach Jim Roque feels the Lakers can improve this year by becoming a more aggressive hockey team, something he feels has been lacking over the past few seasons.

“I think if anything, we’re a little disappointed in how maybe we’ve gotten a little bit passive the last two years with our game, and I think right now we’re looking to going back to more of how we played a couple years back — a little more aggressive, a little more of in-your-face hockey,” Roque said. “I thought maybe we got a little too conservative the last two seasons.

“I wouldn’t blame that on the players. That’s obviously a coaching decision; you want to be more conservative or you’re trying to win games with a little different style and that’s something that I’ve reevaluated this season and trying to get our guys to go again.”[USCHO]

Ohio State (1-3, 0-0) started the new season slowly but last weekend's home split vs. then #3 Denver should help the squad build confidence in their game.

On Friday, it was the Pioneers seizing early control of the game in front of another sparse crowd at Value City Arena winning 2-0. Denver goaltender Marc Cheverie made 36 saves en route to his fifth career shutout. Read the recap of Friday's game here.

The Buckeyes turned the tables on Saturday night picking up their first victory of 2009-10 shutting out the Pioneers 4-0 at Nationwide Arena. Sophomore goaltender Cal Heeter made 39 saves for his first career shutout and the Buckeyes received goals from Taylor Stefishen, Zac Dalpe, Shane Sims and an empty netter from C.J. Severyn. If Dalpe can get it going, it should ease the pressure on John Albert who has yet to really get untracked this season. Interestingly, two of Heeter's three career wins have come against the Pioneers and it was the Buckeyes' first shutout since January 3 vs. Clarkson in the final of the Ohio Hockey Classic. In two starts this year, Heeter has a 1.01 goals-against average and .970 save percentage.

Currently, the Buckeyes are led offensively by junior defenseman Shane Sims who has a point in three of four games this year and checks in at 2-2-4. Last season, Sims led all Buckeye defensemen with 24 points. On Saturday, he scored his second shorthanded goal of his career.

The series between Ohio State and Lake Superior is one of dramatic streaks. Knowing how great the Lakers were in the 80s and 90s, it should come as no surprise that the Lakers absolutely dominated this series posting a 19-0-3 record against the Buckeyes from 1992-1997. However, Ohio State has turned things around over the past several years going 20-6-2 against Lake State including a 1-1 mark last season. Overall, Lake Superior leads the all-time series 69-53-9 including 41-25-4 in Sault Ste. Marie.

Fearless predictions -

Lake Superior is off to a "superior" start. However, they have only played one truly good team and dropped that game (another one goal loss) at Minnesota-Duluth. On the other hand, the Buckeyes suffered an opening weekend sweep to unheralded Quinnipiac before finally getting their first win last weekend in their fourth game of the season. I'm going to pick a Buckeye sweep thinking that the current series history combined with Ohio State's better personnel will carry them this weekend.

Buckeyes 4-2, 3-1