After an underwhelming effort in Friday night’s loss, the No. 10/11 Miami RedHawks returned to form Sunday evening, spurred on by a pair of second period Sean Kuraly goals to take the contest over the Bowling Green Falcons, 3-2.
A penalty-rich first period yielded just one tally each for the former Central Collegiate Hockey Conference rivals, as Miami freshman Louie Belpedio netted his first-ever collegiate goal.
“It was great to get the first win, and obviously exciting to score the first goal,” Belpedio explained after the game.
The Falcons responded on a power play nearly 10 minutes after the initial strike, capitalizing on a funny bounce. Kevin Dufour’s rebound attempt found its way past goaltender Jay Williams on his third mark of the year.
After four straight periods of playing on their heels, the RedHawks redeemed themselves in the second frame, as Kuraly and company jumped out to a 3-1 lead on the senior forward’s two tallies at 1:29 and 14:47, respectively. The ‘Hawks came alive in the middle period and hit on all cylinders for the first time this year as they outshot the Falcons 15-5.
The Orange and Brown refused to go quietly, however. Over the final 20 minutes, the Falcons outshot the RedHawks, 9-2, and made the contest a one-goal affair on Mark Friedman’s wrister from the slot just 3:05 into the frame. Bowling Green also came close to converting several other opportunities, the most apparent of which was a deflected puck that came to rest on Williams’ neck before rolling harmlessly past the post.
“Full marks to [Miami], they played how we knew they were going to come out tonight,” Falcons’ coach Chris Bergeron said. “I thought we weathered the storm a little bit in that first period and we got a good bounce on our goal, but that second period was just not unacceptable. When you’re playing a tough opponent in a tough building, you just can’t have periods like that.”
Despite three goals allowed on 26 shots, Tommy Burke turned in a strong effort between the pipes for Bowling Green, foiling several Miami opportunities that looked like they might get past him. Williams played splendidly in relief of classmate Ryan McKay, who turned aside two shots before exiting the game at the 6:15 mark of the game after contact with an opponent drew a goalie interference penalty. His first win of the year was a bittersweet one for Williams, whose grandmother just passed away two days before.
For Miami, the afternoon conquest was a much needed moral victory, as it struggled much of last season, limping to a last place National Collegiate Hockey Conference finish while losing eight of its final 10 regular season games.
“We really needed that one,” Kuraly said of his team’s win. “It felt really good to get that under our belt.”
Miami will face another in-state rival when it engages in a home-and-home series with the Ohio State University next weekend, while Bowling Green will be dipping below the Mason-Dixon line to open Western Collegiate Hockey Association play at Alabama-Huntsville.
