Recap: Miami hockey swept by No. 4 Western Michigan to close out regular season

The Miami University RedHawks hockey team officially fell out of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) postseason contention a few weeks before its matchup with the No. 4 Western Michigan University Broncos. However, the finality of the regular season set in after the final buzzer on Saturday at Goggin Ice Center.

After Miami came away with two points in its two previous games at the University of Minnesota-Duluth – the first an overtime loss and the second a tie and shootout loss – the Red and White returned home looking to end the season on a high note.

The Broncos entered the series at 24-7-1 overall and 17-4-1 in conference play. They clinched the program’s first Penrose Cup as the NCHC’s best team with a win and an overtime loss last weekend against the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks.

Western Michigan began the series scoring just over six minutes into Friday’s game thanks to senior forward Wyatt Schingoethe, but Miami graduate student forward Colby Ambrosio tied the game at the end of the first period.

Things turned south for Miami early in the second period. Within the first minute, the Broncos scored two goals, and within the first four, they added another to go up 4-1. Miami junior forward Max Dukovac sent home a puck on a two-on-one rush with fellow junior forward Johnny Waldron.

The Broncos did not settle for a two-goal cushion, though. Just over a minute later, Western Michigan capitalized to retake a three-goal lead and then added two more within 50 seconds. Two minutes later, the Broncos scored their eighth goal of the game and seventh of the period.

“I think the main difference, and what makes them such a good hockey team, is they always know how to capitalize on your mistakes,” Dukovac said. “When you play a team like that, you have to make so few mistakes. They obviously hurt you, so you can’t make them, and we made too many, especially in the second period.”

Miami scored two and a half minutes into the third period to make the game 8-3, but the deficit was far too much to overcome, as Western Michigan saw all but three skaters record a point.

The RedHawks took the ice on Saturday looking to rectify what happened the evening before. Eight seniors were honored on senior night, creating a buzz in Steve “Coach” Cady Arena and influencing the early part of Saturday’s game.

Miami struck first less than three minutes in. Dukovac scored his second goal of the weekend, this time on the power-play. But the Broncos converted on a couple power-plays to tie the game at one goal apiece.

The second period was once again Miami’s kryptonite. The RedHawks allowed three goals this time, none of which were consecutive, but heading into the third period down multiple goals is not a recipe for success.

With eight minutes left in the third period, the Broncos scored their fifth and final goal off a deflected pass by graduate student forward Cam Knuble. Despite Miami senior forward Matt Choupani shoving a puck past first-year goaltender Hampton Slukynsky 40 seconds later, the RedHawks fell 5-2.

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“I knew [the players] were going to play hard for the seniors,” head coach Anthony Noreen said. “I thought there was push, but [Western Michigan is] a very good team, and you have to credit them … at the end of the day, if you make a mistake, they make you pay.”

Miami finished the season with zero conference wins and a single tie. The team’s last win came against the Lindenwood University Lions on Oct. 26, and the RedHawks finished with a record of 3-28-3. However, despite the results, Noreen said he’s confident his group is heading in the right direction.

“My belief, from when I took the job to now, in the things that we thought from the beginning have only gotten stronger,” Noreen said. “I feel honored to be a part of what we’re about to go through. There’s going to be some pain, and it’s going to be hard, and it’s not going to get any easier because the rest of our league will get stronger, but there’s absolutely no reason we shouldn’t be able to build that type of team on this campus.”

@jjmid04

middleje@miamioh.edu