Oct. 15, 2004
OXFORD, OH — Goaltending and power-play chances were on the menu Friday night in Oxford, Ohio as the ninth-ranked Miami RedHawks scored three power-play goals to take a 4-2 win over Notre Dame at Goggin Arena.
Matt Christie’s five-on-three power-play marker at 11:15 of the third period snapped a 2-2 tie and put the RedHawks ahead to stay. Marty Guerin sealed the win with a short-handed empty-netter at 19:12 for the 4-2 final score.
On the night, Miami outshot the Irish, 38-34. Morgan Cey made 34 saves for the Irish with all three goals he surrendered coming on RedHawk power plays. Brandon Crawford-West had 32 saves in goal for Miami.
Two RedHawk goals came with two-man advantages while the Irish had one of their own on the five-on-three power play. For the night, Miami was three-for-eight on the power play while Notre Dame scored just once on 10 power-play chances.
The RedHawks took a 1-0 lead at 10:41 on the power play. Junior Chris Michael scored his first of the season when he ripped a blast from the top of the right wing circle through a maze of players in front of Cey. The shot beat the senior goaltender to his stick side, giving the Miami a 1-0 lead.
Just nine seconds after the goal at 10:50, a pane of glass behind the Miami net broke causing a 15-minute delay.
The break in the action helped the Irish as they scored less than a minute-and-a-half later.
With a face off to the right of Crawford-West in the Miami goal, Matt Amado won the draw back to Chris Trick at the center point. Trick fired a low, hard shot on goal that the Miami goaltender stopped but the rebound popped in front to Tim Wallace who fired it home at 12:10 for his first of the season.
The second period saw both teams take advantage of power-play chances. Miami made it 2-1 at 15:15 of the middle stanza, scoring on a five-on-three power play. Todd Grant got his second goal of the year when he one-timed a Matt Christie centering pass from the top of the left-wing circle past Cey for the RedHawks second power-play goal of the game.
The Irish got their chance to go on the five-on-three just 45 seconds after Grant’s goal. Cory McLean held the puck along the left wing boards and slid a pass to Wes O’Neill at the left point. O’Neill moved it in and found Josh Sciba parked to the right of Crawford-West. Sciba held the puck and out-waited Crawford-West, flipping the puck under the crossbar when the Miami goaltender went down on the ice.
The loss drops the Irish to 0-2-1 on the year and 0-1-0 in the CCHA. Miami goes to 3-0-0 overall and 1-0-0 in CCHA.
The two teams will meet in game two of the weekend series tonight in Oxford, Ohio. Game time is set for 7:35 p.m. (EDT).
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 F
Notre Dame (0-2-1/0-1-0) 1 1 0 2
Miami (3-0-0/1-0-0) 1 1 2 4
Scoring
First Period: MU: Chris Michael 1 (Andy Greene, Marty Guerin), PPG, 10:41; ND: Tim Wallace 1 (Chris Trick, Matt Amado), 12:10.
Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes; MU: 3 for 6 minutes.
Second Period: MU: Todd Grant 2 (Matt Christie, Greene), PPG; ND: Josh Sciba 2 (Wes O’Neill, Cory McLean), PPG, 17:09.
Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes; MU: 6 for 12 minutes.
Third Period: MU: Christie 2 (Michael, Greene), PPG, 11:15; MU: Guerin 5 (Christie), SHG, ENG, 19:12..
Penalties: ND: 7 for 14 minutes; MU: 9 for 18 minutes.
Shots On Goal:
Notre Dame 9 – 16 – 9 – 34
Miami 14 – 8 – 16 – 38
Goaltender Saves:
ND - Morgan Cey (59:50) 13 - 7 - 14 - 34
MU - Brandon Crawford-West (60:00) 8 - 15 - 9 - 32
Power Plays:
ND: 1 for 10
MU: 3 for 8
Attendance: 2,003