OXFORD, Ohio — Friday was a game of firsts for both Miami and Nebraska-Omaha. The RedHawks’ Conor Lemirande notched his first tally of the season and Chase Munroe made his first career appearance between the pipes for the red-and-white.
Omaha’s Joel Messner scored the first goal of his career – on a man-disadvantage, no less. But, most impressively, the Mavericks overcame a three-goal deficit for the first time this year, as they rallied back to win the contest, 6-4.
“We said [during the second intermission] that we’re not out of this game yet,” Omaha head coach Dean Blais explained. “It’s a game of momentum. We had it then they scored four, then we scored the next four … that’s just the way it goes.”
Miami had secured a 4-1 lead halfway through the evening, but the aforementioned momentum began to shift when the black and red were killing a penalty in the closing minutes of the second frame. Steven Spinner broke up the RedHawk rush in the neutral zone and transitioned into Miami territory. He cut to the net and drew both defenders before he found Joel Messner in the slot, where he beat Ryan Larkin with a laser to the blocker side, invigorating his bench and kickstarting the Maverick comeback with the first goal of his collegiate career.
“Joel being a junior and getting his first goal – we’re always rooting for him to get that goal – I think that was the biggest momentum changer,” Spinner said. “Just seeing him celebrate and getting that goal was awesome.”
For his part, Messner was still in disbelief following what was the wildest contest of the young Omaha season.
“Holy smokes, what a game,” Messner said. “That was pretty awesome. Killing penalties is huge. It can change the momentum so fast. We were really positive. They scored two goals in three minutes and we knew we could do the same.”
Getting his first goal in a winning effort was pretty sweet, too.
“If we would have lost I would have traded that one in for a win for sure,” Messner added. “But I’m just happy we won. It was a great experience.”
Jake Randolph registered his first goal of the year 83 seconds into the third frame, which elicited a silence from the home crowd that would endure for the remainder of the game. Spinner evened the scoreboard with a power play goal minutes later to continue the offensive surge. The tally was enough to chase Larkin, who appeared to also be contending with a lower-body injury, from the net.
In came Munroe, who turned aside several Omaha bids but was unable to get a glove on David Pope’s game-winner from the slot at the 11:55 mark. A Mason Morelli empty net goal in the closing minute finalized the comeback.
Friday marked the first win this season in which Omaha did not hold a two-goal lead at some point in the first two periods. Blais’s squad knows it will need to overcome adversity like this more often moving forward – a fact that didn’t escape Spinner.
“It’s good being down a couple goals and knowing we have the heart and soul to come back.”
The RedHawks and Mavericks will conclude their two game series Saturday evening at 7:05 p.m.
Other NCHC results
Western Michigan 4, No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth 3
The Broncos are riding a three-game winning streak after knocking off the top-ranked Bulldogs on the road. Three unanswered goals in the final 24 minutes – including the game-winner with 31 seconds remaining on the clock – lifted Western to the win. Colt Conrad registered the final two goals for the Broncos.
No. 2 Denver 1, No. 6 North Dakota 1
Even after an overtime session, a winner couldn’t be decided between the No. 2 and No. 6 squads in the land. Tanner Jaillet turned aside 29 shots for the Pioneers, while Cam Johnson registered 24 saves in the 65 minutes of action. The Fighting Hawks earned an extra point in the standings on Shane Gersich’s goal in the 3-on-3 second overtime.
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000cdfhKtjDVPw” g_name=”20161111-Denver-University-of-North-Dakota-Bradley-K-Olson” 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.f3hRClFcgEahI12sIHI59tWwQ1MNNIabNJVzg5dxDYDmZjjCfGA–” ]
