Established 1826 — Oldest College Newspaper West of the Alleghenies
MEN'S SPORTS

Hockey hopes to stop skid vs. No. 18 Omaha

<p>Junior forward Ryan Savage (pictured, bottom left) goes after the puck after an opening faceoff in Miami&#x27;s home series vs. Denver.</p>

Junior forward Ryan Savage (pictured, bottom left) goes after the puck after an opening faceoff in Miami's home series vs. Denver.

Miami hockey continues its season this weekend against the No. 18 Omaha Mavericks.

The RedHawks haven’t won a conference game in regulation since the last time they played the Mavs. That was back on Nov. 5, more than three months ago.

Miami’s record is a little misleading. They’re not a horrible team. They routinely find themselves competitive as a game is winding down. They just never win. 

So far this year they’ve blown seven third period leads and lost three more games that were tied in the final frame. Just last weekend, they were a couple of plays away from sweeping No. 5 Denver at home. Instead, it was another winless weekend.

Relative to most of the other teams in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC), Miami has a good shot against Omaha. The Mavericks haven’t been spectacular in any part of the game this season. They’re sitting in sixth in the NCHC (the fact that they’re still in the top 20 nationally proves that Miami’s record is also a product of it’s juggernaut conference schedule), and they’re usually excellent goalie Isaiah Saville has been merely good this season. 

“When [the Mavericks are] at their best, they’re an absolute handful,” Head Coach Chris Bergeron said. They’re really deep up front. They come at you. They’re competitive. Their depth is going to challenge our depth … this is about winning your shift.”

SCOUTING REPORT

GAME 1

Miami RedHawks vs. No. 18 Omaha Mavericks

Faceoff: 7 p.m. Friday, February 11, at Cady Arena in Oxford, Ohio

MIAMI REDHAWKS

Record: 4-20-2 (1-14-1 NCHC)

Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Player (position, class, key stats)

PJ Fletcher (forward, sophomore, 25 gp, 5 g, 10 a)

Derek Daschke (defenseman, senior, 26 gp, 2 g, 16 a)

Red Savage (center, freshman, 25 gp, 6 g, 9 a)

Matt Barbolini (forward, freshman, 26 gp, 9 g, 6 a)

Matt Barry (forward, senior, 24 gp, 5 g, 8 a)

Ludvig Persson (goaltender, sophomore, 23 gp, 3-16-2, .879 save percentage)

Omaha Mavericks

Record: 17-11 (7-9-0 NCHC)

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Player (position, class, key stats)

Taylor Ward (forward, senior, 28 gp, 15 g, 44 a)

Brandon Scanlin (defenseman, junior, 28 gp, 3 g, 21 a)

Tyler Weiss (forward, senior, 26 gp, 7 g, 16 a)

Chayse Primeau (forward, senior, 22 gp, 7 g, 9 a)

Isaiah Saville (goaltender, junior, 23 gp, 13-10, .905 save percentage)

GAME 2

Miami RedHawks vs. No. 18 Omaha Mavericks

Faceoff: 7:05 p.m. Saturday, February 12, at Cady Arena in Oxford, Ohio

@jackschmelzinger

schmelj2@miamioh.edu

Read More

Trending