The Miami of Ohio hockey team knows, all too well, the dangers of letting down. In the NCAA championship game last year, the RedHawks gave up two goals in the final minute of regulation, then another in overtime, losing to Boston University.
So even though Miami defeated Alabama-Huntsville 2-1 Saturday in the opening game of the Midwest Regional at Memorial Coliseum, the final few minutes were hectic.
The RedHawks gave up a power-play goal to Brennan Barker on a shot from the top of the left circle and 38 seconds remaining, with Alabama-Huntsville’s goaltender pulled, but the nervousness quickly subsided as the Chargers didn’t get another good shot on net.
Miami moves on to today’s regional final, against Michigan, in its quest to erase the demons of last year’s 4-3 title-game loss.
“Alabama is a dangerous team, and I knew they’d eventually get some chances,” said Miami goaltender Cody Reichard, who had 16 saves. “It took them awhile, but I knew they’d get some, and I had to stay ready the whole game.”
The game came down to two factors, neither of which went according to plan for Alabama-Huntsville (12-18-3): Miami had nine power plays, scored twice, and the Redhawks had a 38-17 shot edge.
“Nine power plays wasn’t what we drew up,” Alabama-Huntsville coach Danton Cole said. “(The RedHawks) are dangerous and they do good things. They keep putting the puck on the net. They keep coming at you. And then they get on the wrong side of us, and we start taking some penalties. That’s to their credit.”
Said Miami coach Enrico Blasi: “I’m not a big believer in statistics. … All I care about is timely goals. Tonight, we had two power-play goals and that was the difference in the game. We have a lot of skill on our power play and … they can get it done. It’s just a matter of executing.”
The Chargers’ goalie, Cameron Talbot, who was masterful for most of the game, couldn’t overcome his team’s penalties.
“I was just trying to stay focused and take it four minutes at a time, go timeout to timeout, and keep us in the game,” Talbot said. “I knew my teammates were going to keep on battling in front of me and play a heck of a game, keep us in the game.”
Miami (28-7-7) opened the scoring 10:24 into the first period, when Curtis McKenzie scored on Carter Camper’s pass from behind the net.
McKenzie set up the game-winning goal at 6:06 of the second period, when his shot from the right circle was redirected above Talbot’s outstretched glove by Carmel native Cameron Schilling.
“We’re a puck-possession team, when we’re on,” Blasi said. “We tried to do that tonight. I thought we did a good job of (possessing the puck), but they did a good job of blocking shots, and we knew they weren’t going to pack it in. It didn’t matter if we were going to win 2-1 or 1-0, we just wanted to make sure we won the game. That was our first step. Now we need to win (tonight).”
