The Miami University RedHawks hosted the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs for the second game of their weekend series on Saturday night in Oxford, Ohio. The Bulldogs convincingly won game one against the RedHawks, finishing with a score of 5-0. Heading into Saturday night, the RedHawks were still without their first NCHC game win of the season, while the Bulldogs had accomplished this on Friday night. In goal for the RedHawks was #30 Bruno Bruveris, while Chicago Blackhawks draft pick Adam Gajan started for the Bulldogs.
Starting the game, Bruveris made a stellar chest save within the first minute. UMD continued to bombard Bruveris with shots, but the Miami defense held strong for the first seven minutes. Miami defenseman Zane Demsey then unleashed a slap shot from the blue line that managed to find its way past goaltender Adam Gajan, giving the RedHawks an early 1-0 lead.
10:09 into the first period, Miami Captain Ryan Sullivan was penalized for cross-checking in the defensive zone, granting UMD an early power play; however, Miami’s penalty kill successfully stumped the Bulldogs’. With just over five minutes remaining, Matt Choupani set up Blake Messenberg in front of the net, who tipped the puck past Gajan, extending the RedHawks’ lead to 2-0.
Shortly after this, Jayson Shaugabay from UMD found the net, cutting the Bulldogs’ deficit to 2-1. Following that goal, Frankie Carogioiello took a high-sticking penalty, allowing UMD’s power play to take advantage as Ty Hanson one-timed a shot past Bruveris, tying the game at 2-2. In a disastrous turn for the RedHawks, Anthony Menghini scored on a breakaway less than a minute later, giving the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead at the end of the first period.
The Bulldogs finished the period with 13 shots compared to just 4 from the RedHawks.
The RedHawks came out of the intermission with more energy, firing numerous shots at Gajan but were unable to score. Anthony Menghini later added his second goal of the game, increasing the Bulldogs’ lead to 4-2 early in the second period.
As the nightmare continued for the RedHawks, Carter Loney extended the Bulldogs’ lead to 5-2, and less than 30 seconds later, Blake Bechen scored, making it 6-2.
Following a complete collapse from Miami defensively, Bret Miller took over in goal for Bruveris (making his Miami debut), as the RedHawks managed only 6 shots midway through the game, which is extremely concerning. The second period ended with the score at 6-2, with Miami registering just 3 shots throughout the period. UMD led the shot total 28-8 through two.
A little over five minutes into the third period, Frankie Carogioiello of Miami received another penalty, this time for boarding. However, the penalty was later negated when Aaron Pionk of UMD was penalized for hooking. Shortly after, #18 Joey Pierce of the Bulldogs was assessed a five-minute major penalty for interference, giving the RedHawks a little life. Unfortunately, Miami’s power play could not capitalize on the chance. Adding insult to injury, UMD scored one more goal against Bret Miller, ultimately winning the game with a final score of 7-2 while dominating the shot count 32-20.
With Saturday’s loss, the Miami RedHawks fall to a record of 3-9-2 on the season and 0-4-0 in NCHC play. Meanwhile, the UMD Bulldogs improve to 5-6-0 overall and 2-2-0 in NCHC play. UMD dominated this series, although Miami controlled possession for the first 15 minutes of Game Two. The RedHawks struggled to generate offense and made too many defensive errors on Saturday night, watching their 2-0 lead slip away into seven unanswered goals. The RedHawks will now head on the road for a series against Omaha in Nebraska, seeking their first NCHC series win of the season.
