Patrick Tiesling and Cameron Schilling celebrate a RedHawk goal against Lake Superior State University Oct. 28. The ’Hawks welcome the University of Michigan to Oxford this weekend. The ’Hawks welcome the University of Michigan to Oxford this weekend. (JESSI THORNE | The Miami Student)
Over the weekend, the Miami University men's ice hockey team traveled a long way for a couple of wins. Miami faced off against the University of Alaska at Fairbanks (UAF) Nanooks in Fairbanks, Alaska and swept the Nanooks, winning both games 2-1.
Miami snapped their five game losing streak Friday, led in net by senior Cody Reichard who had a season-high 29 saves.
The Red and White struck first with a goal from Alden Hirschfeld, his second straight game with a goal, and assists coming from sophomore Bryon Paualazzo and freshman Tyler Biggs.
The Nanooks then answered with an equalizer of their own from Colton Beck, who nailed in an errant pass within the defensive zone from Miami's Steven Spinell.
The tie was not for long though, as junior Reilly Smith lit the lamp just over a minute later. Freshman Austin Czarnik and junior Curtis McKenzie notched the assists.
Saturday, Miami continued their newfound win streak by playing physically and tough.
The 'Hawks were once again led in net by Reichard in goal as Head Coach Enrico Blasi abandoned the "platoon" goalie system, leaving senior Connor Knapp on the bench. The game was a grinder for all 60 minutes.
McKenzie started the scoring off on the power play with assists coming from Biggs and Spinell. The Nanooks got the crowd roaring again by scoring with just seven seconds left in the second period. Sophomore Max Cook sealed the deal for the RedHawks by scoring with 11 minutes remaining in the third period and that's all the lead that Blasi's team would need.
With the sweep, the Red and White improved their record to 4-6-0 overall and are now 2-4 in conference play.
"It's certainly a strange situation for us playing from behind, but we're starting to put things together and score some goals," freshman Jimmy Mullin said.
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The RedHawks have the No. 3/4 ranked University of Michigan Wolverines to look forward to this upcoming weekend.
Michigan was the National Runners-Up last year, falling to the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the NCAA Championship game. Michigan is currently 6-1-1 falling only to Northern Michigan University just a few weeks ago. Michigan is heavily favored in this upcoming series against Miami at the Goggin Ice Center.
"Playing as the underdog is something new for us, and it will certainly be a good challenge but we still expect ourselves to play well," Mullin said.
Puck drops on Friday at 7:35 and Saturday at 7:05. If you can't make it to Goggin, coverage will be on WMSR.
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