RedHawks suit up for Colorado College

By Grace Remington, Staff Writer

The Miami University men's hockey team hits the road for a series with Colorado College this weekend.

Miami (16-9-1, 9-6-1-1 NCHC) is 3-3 all-time against Colorado College (5-19-1, 1-14-1 NCHC) and has won the last three head-to-head meetings. The RedHawks posted 3-0 and 5-1 wins against the Tigers in November. Colorado is ranked last in the conference and has dropped its last six games, being outscored 27-7 in the process.

Though the Tigers may appear to be less of a threat statistically speaking, head coach Enrico Blasi does not underestimate their skillset.

"We respect everybody in our league, including Colorado College," Blasi said in his weekly press conference. "They're as good a team as anybody in the league … no one in our league looks at standings or anything like that. This is a tough league from top to bottom, and anybody can beat anybody."

Miami has outshot its opponent in 22 of its last 25 games and is third nationally with a +9.38 average shot margin per game. The RedHawk penalty kill in the last 18 games has a success rate of 90.7 percent.

Junior goaltender Jay Williams has a .900 save percentage in 14 of his last 18 games and ranks fifth in the nation with a 1.74 goals against average.

Junior forward Cody Bradley leads the Tigers' offense with 21 points on eight goals and 13 assists. Sophomore Tyler Marble and freshman Chase Perry have been spitting time in net. They combine for a 3.87 goals against average and an .880 save percentage.

Conference wins are becoming increasingly important as the postseason draws closer. Blasi said the team will be "taking it one game at a time" in order to gather conference.

"Everybody's out for the same thing," Blasi said. "With four weeks left in the season … you can't look at the scoreboard, you can't worry about what other teams are doing. Every team controls their own destiny … you play every game like it's your last game, and that's what we're going to do."