OXFORD, Ohio — No. 11 Miami topped No. 17 Ohio State 2-1 on Saturday. The win marks three straight for Miami and finishes off a sweep during the home-and-home against the Buckeyes.
Ohio State played a strong first period and finished the frame up 1-0. The Buckeyes’ lone goal came from the stick of Anthony Greco on a rebound given up during a five-minute power play.
Buckeyes captain Tanner Fritz said he felt good headed into the second.
“Our first period was really good,” Fritz said. “I thought we had a lot of jump and we had a lot of chances; 10 or 11 shots in the first, but after that we couldn’t generate much.”
The next two periods were all Miami. The RedHawks outshot the Buckeyes, 62-20, including a 25-shot second period. Miami freshman defenseman Louie Belpedio opened the scoring for the RedHawks with a shot from the point and traffic in the slot past OSU goaltender Christian Frey, who said Miami was big in front of the net.
“They had a lot of traffic in front,” Frey said. “On the first goal, I didn’t even see the puck.”
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000Gsq0Qg3VrfE” g_name=”20141018-Miami-OhioState-RachelLewis” f_show_caption=”t” f_show_slidenum=”t” img_title=”casc” pho_credit=”iptc” f_link=”t” f_bbar=”t” fsvis=”f” width=”500″ height=”375″ bgcolor=”#AAAAAA” bgtrans=”t” btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” crop=”f” trans=”xfade” tbs=”4000″ f_ap=”t” linkdest=”c” f_fullscreen=”f” f_constrain=”f” twoup=”f” f_topbar=”f” f_bbarbig=”” f_htmllinks=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”f” f_show_watermark=”f” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”f” f_up=”f” target=”_self” wmds=”llQ6QNgpeC.p1Ucz7U.f2JCBkWJwnwrhAWn_lNUEfQmz8rOpyksWvn5RRvurKbcP9lF.Yw–” ]The effort from the Buckeyes’ sophomore netminder did not go unnoticed by the RedHawks; Miami winger Alex Wideman gave credit to Frey for his play.
“Their goalie played really really well,” Wideman said. “Obviously, 60 saves so he was doing something right. […] Not every game is the goalie going to play like that.”
Wideman had the game-winning goal in the second period on a rebound, which he took behind the net for a wraparound, beating Frey to the far post. He finished the weekend with two goals and one assist.
Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik said a goaltender like Frey is the best defense when you give up 62 shots.
“One, put a goalie in like Frey and let him make the saves,” Rohlik said. “Secondly, you have to try to take time and space away. They have a lot of skill and once they got going they had confidence.”
Despite the one-sided shot count, the game ended with Ohio State within one.
Miami coach Rico Blasi admitted the game was still close.
“Obviously, their goaltender played extremely well,” Blasi said. “We did a lot of good things tonight, but it was exciting there at the end for sure.”
Fritz said he felt the game was still winnable.
“It was a 2-1 game,” Fritz said. “We were right there. In the end, there could have been a bounce here or a bounce there.”
Jay Williams picked up his third win of the season. He moves to 3-0 on the season, only allowing four goals in his three appearances.
Rohlik said his team will “break the bad habits” and that they will “figure it out.”
“For us obviously we need to look in the mirror and get better defensively, and I think that’s the biggest thing for us,” Rohlik said.
Blasi said he will enjoy the win, but not for too long.
“I’m pleased; I think we’re pleased as a team that we got better this weekend,” Blasi said. “We’ll enjoy it tonight and then we have to get ready for another opponent next weekend.”
Miami hosts St. Lawrence twice next weekend, while Ohio State visits Canisius in Buffalo, N.Y.
