A last-minute goal from Brian Maloney clinched a 4-3 victory and weekend sweep for Michigan State (23-6-5, 17-5-4 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) over Miami (11-19-2, 8-16-2) on Saturday night in Goggin Ice Arena. Maloney scored with 50 seconds remaining in the contest to give the Spartans their eighth straight victory over Miami.
Michigan State got out of the gates quickly in the first period as goals from Jim Slater and Adam Hall at 8:09 and 10:25 gave the Spartans a 2-0 advantage. Hall and Maloney assisted on the first goal, and Slater and Maloney were credited with helpers on the second goal.
Senior Jake Ortmeyer narrowed the gap to 2-1 with his first goal of the season at 15:46. Moments after sending the puck into traffic, Ortmeyer stopped a Spartan clearing attempt and shot the puck on net. Michigan State goalie Ryan Miller never saw the shot as Ortmeyer racked up the unassisted tally.
Hall tallied his second goal of the stanza on a power play with 13 seconds on the clock to give the Spartans a 3-1 lead entering the first intermission. Keith collected an assist while Maloney earned his third helper of the contest.
Miami collected itself in the second period as junior Nick Jardine stopped some of the bleeding with his ninth tally of the season at 12:56. Sophomore Mike Kompon dug the puck out from the boards and found sophomore Derek Edwardson open in the neutral zone. Edwardson topped off the 2-on-1 break when he found Jardine open for the RedHawks’ second goal of the game.
Edwardson worked his magic again at 19:19 in the second frame when he won a faceoff in MSU’s zone, niftily dropping the puck onto Kompon’s stick for an easy one-timer into the back of the net. Kompon’s seventh goal of the season knotted the game at three apiece, evening Miami with MSU for the first time since the beginning of the game.
However, luck ran out on the RedHawks in the third period. After battling for most of the frame, Maloney broke the tie with the game-winning goal at 19:10. Lee Falardeau and Hall were credited with assists.
Miller, who saw his four-game shutout streak against Miami snapped on Friday night, earned his 22nd victory of the season by saving 33 Miami shots. Burleigh stopped 23 shots in the setback.
