Preview: Miami hockey begins homestand against Lindenwood Lions

Following two straight losses to the Robert Morris University Colonials, the Miami University hockey team returns to home ice for two games against the Lindenwood University Lions.

The two games are the first half of a four-game homestand to finish the out-of-conference schedule for the 2024-25 season.

Miami is 2-2-2 through the season’s first six games, following its subpar performances against the Colonials. The first game of the home-and-home in Oxford was not an ideal start to the series. A 5-1 loss sealed the RedHawks’ first loss of the season in embarrassing fashion with their only goal coming late in the game.

The Red and White did have some chances throughout the three periods, including a couple of posts and a missed penalty shot, but finding the back of the net was not an easy task.

Saturday was once again a slow start for Miami, a recurring issue since regular season play began. Despite being down 2-0, the RedHawks cut the Colonials lead in half with a power-play goal from graduate student forward Ryan Sullivan.

A breakaway miss and a few chances with an empty net could have turned the RedHawks around, but two empty net goals from Robert Morris sealed their tough defeat.

“[The pushback was] better, [but] not nearly good enough,” Miami head coach Anthony Noreen said. “That’s everybody. That starts with me and our plan and preparation. But [we] certainly just need more pushback than that after what happened in our rink on Thursday night. The response needs to be better.”

Miami’s penultimate out-of-conference series comes against a Lindenwood team that, despite its 1-3-0 record, has a chance to make some noise in the college hockey landscape. The Lions’ first series came against the University of Wisconsin Badgers, which was ranked ninth in the country at the time.

Lindenwood was one overtime goal from sweeping them on the road.

“This, from what we’re seeing, is the best team we’ve seen so far this year,” Noreen said. “They’re extremely impressive. They play hard. They have a really good goaltender. They’re good on special teams. You don’t go into the Cole Center, play a Mike Hastings-coached team and take them by surprise.”

The Lions’ goaltender has been the star of the show through the team’s first four games. Owen Bartoszkiewicz was initially committed to the University of Minnesota and played six games there in 2022-23 before moving back to the United States Hockey League and North American Hockey League in 2023.

He transferred to Lindenwood for the 2024-25 season and is sporting a .925 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average. He has allowed 10 goals on 134 shots through four games, an average of 33.5 shots per game.

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No opponent the RedHawks have faced has been easy for one reason or another. Despite a subpar record on the surface, the Lions will have their best as soon as they hit the ice in Steve “Coach” Cady Arena.

First-year forward Casper Nassen, a Boston Bruins draft pick and the RedHawks’ second-leading scorer, has played a key role this season. He knows the team’s starts have been below average, but fixing the issue and returning to the win column is atop the priority list.

“The start of the game and just overall not being focused enough,” Nassen said. “We had a gameplan, and we didn’t do what we should [have], but there’s more games. We’ve had a few good practices now this week, and we’re ready for Lindenwood this weekend.”

The RedHawks and Lions square off at 7:05 p.m. on both Friday, Oct. 25, and Saturday, Oct.26.

@jjmid04

middleje@miamioh.edu