OXFORD, Ohio — A chilly, Oxford evening wasn’t enough to keep the near-capacity crowd from attending Friday’s goaltending duel.
And while Colorado College’s Chase Perry brought his “A” game, a 38-save effort on 40 shots wasn’t enough as his Tigers were bested by Miami, 3-0.
The NCHC opponents traded chances throughout the first period, but nothing came of the close calls.
Things didn’t heat up until the second, when CC appeared to take the lead on a short-side snipe from Cody Bradley, but using the newly-minted NCHC official video review, goaltender interference was announced and the call was reversed. Not minutes later, the RedHawks were the recipients of a reversed call, this time the result of a missed offsides 20 seconds prior that was picked up by the video review.
Twine wasn’t tickled until 10:44 of the third period when Alex Wideman shot up the middle like a man on fire and corralled a pass from Matthiew Caito for a breakaway chance. A quick shoulder dip froze Perry in his tracks, and the undersized senior netted his fourth goal of the season to put the ‘Hawks up 1-0.
Just 3:19 later, Wideman was the recipient of a beautiful Riley Barber feed in the low-right slot and he fired a rocket just out of the reach of Perry’s blocker.
“Between the second and third period, Coach [Blasi] came in and he wasn’t too happy,” Wideman said. “And we weren’t too happy with ourselves. When you’re moving your feet and doing things right and playing Miami hockey, that’s what happens in the third period. I was really happy with our team and the way we responded after two not-so-good periods.”
Despite a valiant push back from the Tigers, the RedHawks held the 2-0 lead in the waning minutes of the third period until Sean Kuraly buried an empty-net goal to seal the deal.
Miami outshot its opponent in all three periods and finished ahead in the shot count, 41-21. In fact, it’s the eighth time in nine games that the RedHawks have beaten the opposition in the shot-count, and the fifth time that they’ve outshot the competition by 20 or more shots.
Losing is never the ideal outcome, but CC first-year coach Mike Haviland had reason to smile in the postgame press conference. His now 2-5 Tigers played the No. 11 team in the country to a draw for 50 minutes on hostile ice.
“I was really happy with the way we played in the first [period], though I think we took some undisciplined penalties in the second,” Haviland explained. “Even after they scored, I think we still went after them. It was very encouraging from our end, but certainly we’ve got to find ways to get points.”
Though perhaps overshadowed by Perry’s stellar play, Jay Williams stood tall in net for Miami, making several key saves in the third period to preserve a 21-save shutout. The junior has started six of the last seven games. Captain Austin Czarnik chipped in two assists on the night.
