The RedHawks celebrate victory over the Bemidji State Beavers Thursday evening at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. The final takes place at 7 p.m. Saturday against Boston University.
Emotions ran high Thursday night as the Miami University men's ice hockey team bested Bemidji State University 4-1 to advance to its historical first-ever NCAA tournament final.
The RedHawks normally draw a tremendous amount of strength from their ability to possess the puck, but Bemidji State managed to keep Miami from playing to that strength during the first frame. The Beavers did a good job reducing major RedHawk offensive plays to mere board battles and keeping the puck on Miami's end, and the period ended in a 0-0 draw.
"We knew Bemidji was going to be tough in the way they play, real aggressive style," Miami head coach Enrico Blasi said. "I thought our guys did a pretty good job of adapting to that and really trying to turn it on them in transition."
Less than four minutes into the second stanza, however, the brotherhood's luck began to change after BSU sophomore Ian Lowe was whistled for hitting from behind at 2:22. Miami took the man-advantage all the way to the net and earned the first point of the game when freshman Matt Tomassoni fired a cross-ice pass to sophomore Tommy Wingels and Wingels blasted a slapshot right past Bemidji goaltender Matt Dalton. Miami is now 22-1-2 when lighting the lamp first.
Freshman Alden Hirschfeld then gave the Red and White an insurance goal at 8:35 on a beautifully executed Miami play. Sophomore Carter Camper picked up the puck in Miami's defensive zone and dished it to Wingels, who passed it neatly across the slot to Hirschfeld for the RedHawks' second tally of the night.
Shortly thereafter, the Beavers earned their second power play of the night when sophomore Andy Miele was sent to the sin bin for hooking at 9:26 of the second frame. Bemidji didn't let the advantage go to waste and cut the RedHawks' lead in half just 20 seconds later when senior Matt Francis wristed a shot past rookie goaltender Cody Reichard.
Miami was right on top of its game and answered back exactly one minute later with an even strength goal off the stick of senior Bill Loupee, stopping the Beavers' rally effort short. The forward from Bloomfield, Mich., received a long pass from freshman Will Weber in the slot and, after his initial scoring attempt was denied by Dalton, picked up his own rebound and wristed it past Dalton's glove side to make the game 3-1 for the Red and White. Loupee, who only had one goal during the 2008-09 season, doubled his scoring output in the NCAA tournament with two goals in the last three games.
The third period was a physical battle and during the second media timeout, Bemidji's hockey pep band could be heard playing "Don't Stop Believing" as the BSU faithful held out hope, but in the end the Beavers' Cinderella playoff run was put to an end when Wingels put the game out of reach with an empty netter 2:08 before the final buzzer.
"You've got to give Miami credit," Bemidji head coach Tom Serratore said. "They played great and really out-muscled us ... we just couldn't get going."
Miami will now play for the national championship against Boston University. The NCAA tournament final will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. The game will be broadcast on ESPN, and RedHawk fans can also listen in to WMSR's live coverage at www.redhawkradio.com.
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