Junior forward Derek Edwardson scored a pair of goals and senior goaltender David Burleigh made 36 saves to lead the 14th-ranked Miami RedHawks to a 3-1 win over Notre Dame at the Joyce Center Friday night. The win, the sixth straight for Miami, moves the RedHawks into a first-place tie in the CCHA with Ferris State.
The loss extends Notre Dame’s winless streak to four games (0-3-1) and drops the Irish to 3-3-2 overall and 2-3-0 in the CCHA. Miami is now 9-2-0 overall and 6-1-0 in league play.
“I thought we played well, but we lost the game,” said Irish head coach Dave Poulin. “Our power play was the best it’s been all year as far as moving the puck. We got the puck on the sticks of the guys we wanted shooting and didn’t score. We have to learn to finish. It’s not enough in this league to play well. You have to learn how to win these games.”
Edwardson opened the scoring with an unassisted power-play goal at 5:05 of the opening period. Edwardson picked the puck up in his own zone and skated into the Irish zone firing a low wrist shot that beat Notre Dame goaltender Morgan Cey high to his glove side for his fifth goal of the year.
Edwardson’s second goal came at the end of a five-on-three power-play chance, the second of the period, for the Irish. With time winding down on the penalty, Miami’s Mike Kompon carried the puck up the right side. Edwardson came out of the penalty box to give Miami a two-on-one chance. Kompon slid the puck across the slot to the streaking Edwardson, who fired a shot high to the right corner of the net for his second goal of the game.
Notre Dame continued to get power-play chances, but failed to convert on a season-high 10 chances in the game as Burleigh made 21 of his 36 saves versus the Irish power play.
“Burleigh really played well. We got lots of traffic in front like we wanted, but he battled through it and came up with some big saves tonight,” said Poulin.
After a scoreless second period, the Irish finally broke through just 30 seconds into the third period when Aaron Gill collected his fifth of the season combining on a two-on-one chance with Cory McLean to cut the lead to 2-1.
The score would stay that way until the 13:15 mark when Miami took advantage of an Irish power play. Senior forward Danny Stewart picked off a deflected pass in his zone and teamed up with junior defenseman Ben Tharp to create a two-on-one chance. Stewart slid the puck to Tharp at the right post, and he steered it behind Cey for a shorthanded insurance goal to give the RedHawks a 3-1 lead.
The Irish pulled Morgan Cey for the final 1:30 of the game but failed to score. On the night, the Irish outshot Miami by a 37-22 margin. The 37 shots were the most given up by the RedHawks this season. Cey finished with 19 saves for the Irish.
Notre Dame was 0-for-10 on the power play while Miami was 1-for-5.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at the Joyce Center. Game time is 7:05 p.m.
