Established 1826 — Oldest College Newspaper West of the Alleghenies

Defensemen score big against UNH

Erika Hadley

In a wild weekend series that saw 18 total goals scored and two frenzied second frames, the top-ranked Miami University men's ice hockey team (3-0-1) extended its unbeaten streak to four games. The Red and White displayed its depth as nine RedHawks found the back of the net during the course of the series, contributing to an 11-goal effort that earned visiting Miami a win and a tie against the University of New Hampshire Oct. 16 and 17.

Junior Carter Camper netted back-to-back tallies Friday night and senior Jarod Palmer, junior captain Tommy Wingels and freshman Curtis McKenzie each registered four points on the series in a style that resembled what is more commonly seen in the second half of a season rather than the second weekend.

"You've got two good teams going at it, so it felt like January or February," Miami Head Coach Enrico Blasi said. "When you schedule games against great teams and great programs like UNH, you know your team's going to get better."

Sophomore Blake Kessel led the charge for the Blue and White with two goals and three assists on the weekend. Kessel and seniors Peter Leblanc and Bobby Butler each tallied three points during Saturday's contest, but it wasn't enough to best the Brotherhood.

"We can't really be disappointed with a tie against the No. 1 team, but we think we could've snuck away with a win tonight," Kessel said.

The UNH Wildcats struck first during the first frame on Friday night, a deficit that would have daunted the RedHawks last season, but 2009-10 tells a whole different story. Less than two minutes after sophomore Mike Borisenok put UNH on the board, sophomore Cameron Schilling knotted the score with his first career goal.

Another career first tally gave Miami the lead at 13:55, this time off the stick of sophomore Matt Tomassoni. However, the Wildcats earned the equalizer on an odd man rush just 27 seconds before the first intermission.

The Red and White opened it up in the second stanza, outshooting the Wildcats 15-7 and lighting the lamp four times to create an insurmountable lead over the home team.

"UNH really took it to us (in the first period) but we were fortunate to get two goals and come away tied," Blasi said. "In the second period, I thought we had some good opportunities and played better on defense."

Sophomore Alden Hirschfeld regained the lead for the RedHawks at 7:19, aided by the first of Wingels' career-high three assists that night. Less than three minutes later, Palmer continued his season scoring streak and netted the game-winner on a face-off play.

Camper kept it going for the Red and White, adding a pair of tallies to instate a 6-2 advantage for Miami. The first came on the power play at 14:59 after UNH sophomore Stevie Moses was sent to the sin bin for cross-checking, and the second came on a breakaway at 16:38.

Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter

Butler narrowed the margin to 6-3 less than 30 seconds later, but a scoreless final frame snuffed out any hopes the Wildcats had of making a comeback.

Miami outshot the Blue and White 34-21 overall, and for the third straight game, Miami killed all five penalties, increasing its perfect ledger to 15-of-15 on the season. Sophomore goalie Cody Reichard put forth an 18-save effort for the win.

"We did a good job limiting their chances in the second and converted our chances," Blasi said. "Our penalty-kill was solid again tonight."

Saturday night, it was the RedHawks who gained the early advantage, as Tomassoni fired a slap shot from the blue line to beat senior UNH net minder Brian Foster just 1:52 into the game. The remainder of the period saw several close scoring calls for the Red and White in addition to numerous penalties for both sides, but no additional tallies.

Thereafter followed an explosive second period, where the two teams combined for nine goals and eight penalties in a shootout-style battle. Four of the goals were registered within a span of less than three minutes.

Butler pulled UNH even at 2:10 on a rebound, but McKenzie unknotted the action again just 46 seconds later.

UNH senior defenseman Nick Krates wristed a shot past sophomore Connor Knapp to make it 2-2 just 12 seconds later, but Miami freshman Joe Hartman retook the lead for the Red and White at 4:49 with his first career goal.

Five-on-three and five-on-four advantages aided the Wildcats in taking the lead for the first time during the contest, and a fifth UNH tally at 10:08 prompted Blasi to pull Knapp in favor of Reichard for the first time in Knapp's career.

The RedHawks battled back, and juniors Andy Miele and Pat Cannone found the back of the net at 14:55 and 17:40 in the second stanza to knot the contest 5-5 and close scoring for the evening. Though both teams fought valiantly through the final frame and an overtime period, neither was able to capitalize again.

With the win and tie, Miami distinguished itself as one of only three remaining teams out of the 15 ranked teams in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll to not have suffered a loss so far this season.

The RedHawks' next match-up will be versus Michigan State University Oct. 23 and 24 in Steve Cady Arena.