Miami hockey stays winless in NCHC play after sweep to North Dakota

Following a Thanksgiving bye week for the Miami University hockey team, the RedHawks stayed in Oxford to take on the No. 16 University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks.

Previously, the Miami hockey team took on the University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks on the road. However, the results did not go the RedHawks’ way.

The Red and White fell in a 3-0 shutout on Friday, and suffered an 8-1 defeat on Saturday. Junior forward Blake Mesenburg scored the only goal of the weekend.

The Fighting Hawks entered the series against Miami after falling to Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minnesota, and winning via a shootout at Ralph Engelstad Arena in a 3-3 contest.

Friday’s matchup between the RedHawks and Fighting Hawks initially favored the visitors. North Dakota scored the only goal in the first period on the power play. Miami responded with a goal from senior forward Raimonds Vitolins just over two minutes into the second period. Still, North Dakota retook the lead on first-year forward Dalton Andrew’s first collegiate goal.

However, after a five-minute major call for slashing on senior forward Jackson Kunz, the RedHawks had a chance to tilt the ice in their favor. Graduate student forward Ryan Sullivan and junior forward Johnny Waldron tallied goals on the man-advantage, putting the RedHawks up 3-2.

To finish off a high-scoring second, junior defenseman Michael Feenstra scored his first NCAA goal on a great feed from Waldron to put the RedHawks up 4-2.

As time dwindled in the final frame, Miami looked like it would take its first win against a National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) opponent since last January. However, in the final 5:23 of the third, the Fighting Hawks scored three goals. The game-winner came from first-year forward Sacha Boisvert with 23.5 seconds remaining.

“Obviously, it’s tough,” Miami head coach Anthony Noreen said. “There’s no other way to say it. That’s a tough ending. We need to learn how to win, and we need to handle those situations better.”

The Fighting Hawks began Saturday’s game with a lead as well after a power-play goal from sophomore defenseman Abram Wiebe. Then, first-year defender Andrew Strathman scored on a breakaway to put North Dakota up 2-0 within the first seven minutes.

Miami responded with a goal scored by graduate student forward Christophe Fillion to cut the deficit to one. In the second period, they scored again after a shift from Waldron and his linemates Vitolins and graduate student forward Colby Ambrosio.

However, it was once again the third period that put the RedHawks on the wrong end of the result. Kunz scored his second goal of the weekend just over three minutes into the third, and sophomore forward Jayden Perron scored a power-play goal to seal the final 4-2 score.

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“I thought we played a more mature game [on Saturday],” Noreen said. “We were interchangeable in all the things that we [value]. One of the phrases we use is consistency leads to creativity. When you’re on the same page and you play the way we practice, talk about and show on video, then your skill comes out. Our structure is there to give us opportunities to use our [skills].”

With winter break approaching, Miami will have about a month between games. The RedHawks’ next series is against the Denver University Pioneers in Denver on Jan. 10 and 11.

“I think I’m just going to try to mentally reset,” Waldron said. “Every week has been kind of a grind. We’ve only had one off-week, so just reset mentally and make sure my head’s in the right space going into our next games.”

@jjmid04

middleje@miamioh.edu