Back-and-forth action at Steve Cady Arena was punctuated by a flurry of four goals in just over five minutes to begin the second period in Friday’s National Collegiate Hockey Conference matchup Saturday. Chances were evenly traded well into the second overtime, when The Miami RedHawks (5-6-2, 2-4-1-1 NCHC) bested the No. 6 University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks (8-2-1, 2-2-1-0 NCHC) in 3-on-3 play by a score of 4-3.
“It was what we expected it to be,” Miami coach Enrico Blasi said. “Obviously, Nebraska is a very good hockey team. They play very high tempo and they push the pace. … I thought for the most part we handled ourselves very well.”
Though the teams combined for seven goals on the evening, there were none to be found in the opening 20 minutes. Both Miami’s Ryan McKay and Omaha’s Kirk Thompson stood tall between the pipes, turning aside 10 and seven shots, respectively. Thompson was especially solid in the early going, starting his fifth game of the season in lieu of the frequent No. 1 goaltender Evan Weninger, who was not dressed to play for an undisclosed reason. The RedHawks fired several high-quality shots in on Thompson, including an Anthony Louis forehand deke that sent him sprawling, but he remained a question mark to the imposing Miami offense.
The second period, however, was anything but a defensive battle. The NCHC foes traded goals twice, the first of which was a Fredrik Olofsson rebound strike 47 seconds into the frame. Anthony Louis then found redemption in a low-slot wrist shot a few minutes later to tie the game at one.
Another pair of goals followed that were a mere 27 seconds apart, both during a Miami power play. It was Tyler Vesel who did it all himself when he beat RedHawks forward Jack Roslovic to a neutral zone puck and edged him out to wire a short side on the backhand. Matthew Caito responded with a slap shot from the point the play immediately after, and the puck must have had eyes, because it seemed to weave through a bevy of players from both teams and past the screened Thompson.
Roslovic and Austin Ortega — each team’s leading goal scorer — notched near-impossible angle goals to cap off the regulation scoring, and to overtime they went in Oxford.
“We knew that Miami had good special teams,” Mavericks coach Dean Blais said of Miami’s power play and penalty kill, ranked 13th and first in the nation, respectively. “It was the story of the game, but that third period we came back and had opportunities. It was an even game where neither team had that much of an advantage.”
The winning strike came on an innocent enough play in the second session of extra hockey. Justin Greenberg wheeled the puck around the offensive corner and waited patiently for a passing lane to open. He found a streaking Louie Belpedio in the slot, who fired into Thompson’s chest. He followed his own shot and wired a shot under Thompson’s glove, a strike that, this time, the goaltender couldn’t get in front of.
Though the game was officially entered into the NCAA books as a tie, the RedHawks claimed the extra point in the NCHC standings to move into sole possession of fourth place with nine points even after being outshot in the contest, 25-24. Kiefer Sherwood added two assists for the RedHawks in his first multi-point outing of the year, and Greenberg, Roslovic, and Scott Dornbrock chipped in with assists of their own in the winning effort.
“A lot of work in practice led up to this,” Roslovic said. “It’s a payoff. We’ve just got to come out tomorrow and keep our heads on straight.”
Despite being ranked sixth nationally, the Omaha slides to fifth in the conference behind Miami, though they have two games in hand over the rival RedHawks. Jake Guentzel tallied two assists in the loss, while Brian Cooper and Jordan Klehr added a helper each. They’ll look to rebound Saturday night and even the weekend series with the home squad.
“It’s a momentum loss and a momentum game,” Blais explained. “A goal or a big save, a blocked shot can be a momentum builder. That’s the way this game is played. It was a good college game.”
Vesel, who finished the night with a goal and three shots on goal, agrees with his coach and can’t wait for another crack at his conference opponent.
“We’re going to come out like we did in the third [period Friday],” Vesel said. We had a couple of chances that were close. We’re just going to try to bury some goals.”
