Behind two goals and an assist from Casey Gilling, two third-period power-play goals, and 44 saves from Ryan Larkin, the Miami RedHawks upset the No. 4 Denver Pioneers in Oxford, Ohio, 4-3.
“I thought we came out hard; obviously getting the first goal was a huge part of the game,” said RedHawks coach Enrico Blasi. “I thought we competed hard tonight. Larkin was great in net. I thought our special teams did a real nice job; any time you can keep them to not scoring on the power play when they get five chances, and then our power play going two-for-four.”
Miami jumped in front just 1:10 into the game, as off a dump in, Carson Meyer got the puck on the right boards near the faceoff circle and sent a shot on net. Conor Lemirande deflected it in front, and it came to Casey Gilling streaking down the left side of the slot, who backhanded it into the open net before Tanner Jaillet could slide back over.
At the other end, Larkin, who bedeviled the Pioneers in two ties last year in Denver, made 16 saves on the Pioneers as they pressed for the equalizer.
Early in the second, Rourke Russell made it 2-0 Miami with his first collegiate goal. Kiefer Sherwood came streaking up the right side and sent a shot on net that Jaillet stopped, but the rebound came to Russell streaking alone down the left side of the slot behind the defense, which didn’t pick him up. Russell knocked it into the open net at 4:12.
“We weren’t getting much otherwise; any time you have to kill penalties, especially in the second period three in a row, it kind of messes with your flow and energy,” said Blasi of his team’s limited offensive chances.
Denver got one back at 14:33 when Dylan Gambrell deflected Blake Hillman’s shot past an outstretched Larkin.
However, Denver still couldn’t build momentum. The Pioneers had multiple power plays, including one early in the third where they were unable to capitalize, and that proved costly when the RedHawks got a power play and Gilling got his second of the game, rifling a shot top corner stick side past Jaillet from the top of the slot at 4:25 of the third.
“Special teams were huge and we didn’t come back hard enough to our net,” Denver coach Jim Montgomery said. “Their first two goals are rebound goals and they’re beating us to the net. Our effort and intensity for 98 percent of this game was really good, and it shows how slim the margin of error is. If you want to be successful, we can’t have guys thinking that the play is done. You have to play right to the whistle.”
Miami’s defense clamped down for the next five minutes, keeping Denver without a shot on net, but then Henrik Borgström got sprung up the slot and made a quick wrister top corner stick side at 9:20 to bring Denver back within one.
However, Miami again took advantage of its power play to prevent Denver from getting any momentum, as Louie Belpedio blasted a slap shot from the blue line past an unprepared Jaillet at 10:17.
With just over three minutes left in the game, Montgomery pulled Jaillet, and the gamble paid off as Gambrell got the puck at the top of the slot and made a sweet toe drag and quickly wristed the puck top corner stick side at 17:10.
“I think sometimes when the game’s tight like that, everybody just forgets about the score and just plays the game the way they’re supposed to and doesn’t think about what’s going on,” said Blasi. “I think our guys were in the moment and they were playing the game, and that’s what you’ve got to do. At this time of the year, there’s not much strategy when you get late in the game.”
Montgomery pulled Jaillet again trying for the tying goal, but Denver couldn’t get it. Dylan Gambrell hit the post with a quick wrist shot from down low with 35 seconds left, and that was as close as Denver got.
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