Nov. 13, 2009

Final Stats

By Drew Davis

OXFORD, Ohio - No. 1 Miami hockey played Ferris State to a 2-2 tie at the end of regulation, but were defeated 1-0 in an overtime shootout Friday night at the Steve Cady Arena at the Goggin Ice Center. Miami moves to 8-1-2 (5-1-1-0 CCHA) while Ferris State's record now stands at 7-3-1, 2-2-1-1 CCHA.

RedHawk goaltender Cody Reichard stopped 19 of 21 shots and freshmen Curtis McKenzie and Joe Hartman scored to lead the RedHawks, but an extra attacker goal by Ferris State with 22 seconds left allowed the Bulldogs to snatch two points in the league standings.

In the scoreless first period, Miami was the aggressor, placing 11 shots on goal and hitting the pipe once while holding Ferris State to only eight shots on goal, most of which were easy saves for Reichard.

Early in the second period, the RedHawks were again on the attack, but a Ferris State steal and transition caught the Miami defense off-guard. The Bulldogs' Blair Riley skated up-ice on the fast break and took a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle, beating Reichard at 1:50 of the second period to put Ferris State ahead 1-0. Zach Redmond earned the assist on the play.

Midway through the second frame, the Bulldogs stole the puck from the attacking RedHawks and turned a 2-on-1 breakaway, with Cameron Schilling the only Miami defender. Just before the Ferris State skaters could put anything together, Schilling poked the puck away from the first Bulldog while skating backwards, then recovered and lunged to steal the puck from the second Bulldog while the rest of the Miami defense regained position.

While killing off a penalty at the end of the second period, Andy Miele made a steal at his own blue line with seven seconds to play in the period. He quickly moved the puck up ice along the left boards. As he crossed into the attacking zone, he flipped a soft, crossing pass for Hartman, who was racing up the right side of the ice. Hartman fired a slap shot just as he crossed the Ferris State blue line, beating the Bulldogs goaltender high, glove-side for the short-handed equalizer with just 1.3 second to play in the period, sending the teams to the locker rooms at the second break tied at 1-1.

In the hard-fought third period, Miami struck first, taking the 2-1 lead at 15:22 of the period. Chris Wideman took the puck at the point as the RedHawks set up in the offensive zone. Wideman took a slapshot that was blocked by a Ferris State skater, but he quickly regained possession while moving toward the right boards. Wideman spun and sent a centering pass to Tommy Wingels, who took a slap shot toward traffic in front of the net where McKenzie deflected it past the Ferris State goalie.

With just under a minute remaining, the Bulldogs pulled their goaltender in favor of the extra attacker. As time wound down, Ferris State was able to dump the puck in front of the Miami net where Riley scored his second goal of the game at 19:37 to tie the score, 2-2.

The overtime period featured scoring chances for both teams, but when the final horn sounded, the score was still tied, sending the game into a decisive shootout. Carter Camper, Miele and Wingels took the shootout attempts for the RedHawks, but could not get a shot past Ferris State goalie Taylor Nelson. Redmond scored on the first Bulldog shootout attempt, taking a shot that hit the crossbar and deflected into the goal to give Ferris State the shootout victory.

The shootout does not affect Miami's overall record and instead counts as a tie, giving the RedHawks one point in the CCHA standing. Ferris State gets an extra point in the CCHA for the shootout win.

The RedHawks return to the ice Saturday at 7:05 p.m., playing host to Ferris State at Steve Cady Arena in the series finale.

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