In only its second series at Goggin Ice Arena this season, Miami evened its record at .500 by sweeping visiting Alabama-Huntsville thanks to a 5-2 win on Saturday night.
The RedHawks netted three goals in the third period for the second straight night as they controlled most of the game, outshooting the Chargers, 44-16.
The RedHawks (5-5-2) dominated much of the first period, but UAH goalie Scott Munroe did his part. Munroe stopped four Miami power plays and 13 shots to keep the game scoreless after one period.
Freshman Geoff Smith finally got the RedHawks on the board at 5:00 in the second frame, scoring his first career goal on the power play. Munroe left a rebound out in front of the crease that Smith slammed home before being checked into the goal himself. Senior Greg Hogeboom fired the initial shot that created the havoc in front of the UAH net. Also assisting on the goal was senior Mike Kompon.
Ten minutes later at 15:09, Kompon netted a goal of his own to give the RedHawks a 2-0 advantage. Skating shorthanded, Kompon broke from the zone and scored his third goal of the season with a wrist shot on a 1-on-1 break. The shorthanded goal was Miami’s fourth in the last three games. Both Hogeboom and junior Joe Pomaranski had a hand in Kompon’s marker.
UAH (3-3-0) lit the lamp at 2:19 in the third period to cut the gap to one, 2-1, when Steve Canter netted his fourth goal of the season. Canter slapped the puck out of midair on an errant rebound that flipped up after a shot by Steve Milosevski. Freshman goalie Steve Hartley made the first save, but was beat by Canter’s swat of the puck.
The RedHawks backed Hartley, however, with three unanswered goals in the final period to stake their goalie to a four-goal lead. The first of the three goals was scored by Hogeboom at 3:14, as he put the puck in after freshman Andy Nelson had his shot stopped by Munroe.
Freshman Matt Christie scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season at 9:15 in much the same way as his Friday-night goal, by shooting from the point into the upper regions of the goal. His classmate, Marty Guerin, and senior Derek Edwardson both assisted on the marker.
The RedHawks scored their final goal of the game when sophomore Taylor Hustead notched an unassisted goal with a shot through Munroe’s five-hole. UAH’s Jeremy Schreiber scored with 1:38 on the clock on the power play, but the Chargers never got any closer than 5-2.
Hartley made 14 saves to record his second win of the season, and Munroe stopped 39 in the setback for UAH.
