Sophomore winger Curtis McKenzie has two goals this season. (MICHAEL GRIGGS | The Miami Student)
Boston University is on top again.
This time it's the USA Today college hockey poll that headlines, as the Miami University RedHawks dropped to No. 3 and No. 4 according to USCHO.com. The Red and White had its worst weekend woes yet with a loss, tie and a shootout loss to the Ferris State University Bulldogs, resulting in a fall from media glory.
"We want to redeem ourselves," senior Pat Cannone said. "It puts a chip on our shoulder to get back to winning."
Standing nose to nose at center ice will be the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The Nanooks (6-3-1, 3-2-1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA)) come to Oxford Friday after a steady faceoff with the Maize and Blue of the University of Michigan.
"They are a hot team this year," senior Andy Miele said. "They are coming off of a win and loss against Michigan. If we stick to our game plan and play like we did Saturday night, put the puck in the net, we will be fine."
Miele and The Brotherhood (5-2-3, 3-1-2-1 CCHA) have had a habit of "putting the biscuit in the basket this season." The RedHawks' 40 scores average out to four per game, which is tops in the country. Senior Carter Camper, sophomore Reilly Smith and Miele are one, two and three in the country with nine, seven and six goals respectively, while the Miele-Camper combo has defrosted the ice for 43 points.
"Friday we were very disappointed," Miele said. "We couldn't blame anybody but ourselves because we just didn't compete like we should. Saturday night we had a lot of character. We really took it to them. We only gave them five scoring chances the whole game. We were happy with Saturday even though we didn't get the win in the shootout."
To come out with wins, the Red and White defense must push around the senior-freshman duo of Kevin Petovello and Cody Kunyk. Both have netted five goals this season for the Nanooks.
"I know they block a lot of shots," Miele said. "They are very good defensively. They aren't very big, so we have to play physical and just battle from there."
Head Coach Enrico Blasi's team must find the net early and often against a defense that has allowed just 19 goals, the fewest in the CCHA.
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"Coach was upset we weren't ready to compete and wanted us to work harder last weekend," Cannone said. "We didn't play our best game and we will make it a priority to come out well."
The puck drops at 8:05 p.m. Nov. 12 and the clash will air on ONN. The two teams will then play again at 7:05 p.m. Nov. 13.
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