Part two of the Miami-Western Michigan matchup commenced Saturday evening and, despite being decidedly more physical than the prior installment, it ended in familiar fashion. The RedHawks skated to a weekend sweep by topping the Broncos, 2-1, in back-to-back contests.
Miami seemed to be sluggish in the early going, and the Broncos nearly buried their first shot again on Saturday in the first minute of the game. Paul Stokyewych, who facilitated the scoring Friday, received a perfect pass on the left doorstep and rifled a one-timer on net, but Miami goaltender Ryan McKay flared that right pad out and made the stop.
Western goaltender Lukas Hafner, who sat out of last night’s contest, was equal to the task in the first period and dueled McKay to a draw.
The second period brought a similar intensity, but a goal for each squad. Miami struck gold first at the 12:07 mark, and it was Alex Gacek that recorded the tally when he took an offensive opportunity wide to the right and fired through several bodies to beat a screened Hafner.
“It was a big save by McKay that started off the whole thing … and Sean made a great outlet pass,” Gacek said. “It was just your basic three-on-three play entering the zone. Jack [Roslovic] and [Grant Hutton drove] the net, creating a lot of confusion. I just found the puck and shot it on net. It just had eyes.”
It took just 190 seconds for Western Michigan to tie it. Junior captain Sheldon Dries displayed considerable awareness to break up a Miami pass in neutral ice, walked it into the Miami zone relatively uncontested, and beat McKay cleanly to the glove side.
Chances were traded in the early going of the third frame and both goalies continued to stand tall, but when Broncos senior forward J.T. Osborn was called for tripping at 11:28, the RedHawks took advantage. Sean Kuraly earned his second assist off the draw and Anthony Louis wired one on net through traffic. Senior forward Nolan Laporte attempted to block the shot, but inadvertently redirected the puck past Hafner.
“I didn’t think we were overly-physical,” Western Michigan coach Andy Murray explained. “I thought we played smart and didn’t take a lot of penalties until [the third period]. I didn’t really like the last call, but the referee said it was holding, so I guess it is.”
After taking the lead a second time the RedHawks never looked back, and held Western Michigan without a shot for the remainder of the game to secure the 2-1 victory. McKay turned aside 19 of 20 shots in his second win of the weekend, while Hafner stopped 28 of the 30 attempts sent his way.
“Give credit to Miami,” Murray said. “They were very solid and their goalie made some big saves for them …. we’ve got to go back and have some good practices and get ready for a really good St. Cloud team that, last weekend, just beat us last weekend.”
Miami head coach Enrico Blasi wasn’t happy that his squad came out slow in the contest, but was relieved that they could finish off the weekend in sweeping fashion.
“I thought Western took it to us the better part of the first period,” Blasi said. “It went back and forth in the second and same with the third. It’s a tough conference to get a sweep in, and sometimes you’ve got to get a few bounces. And we got that this weekend.”
