Miami scores two short-handed goals, No. 1 RedHawks down WMU 3-0

By Kristen Vermetten
Western Herald

(Chyn Wey Lee/Western Herald) WMU freshman Ross Henry passes the puck past a Miami University of Ohio player Friday night. The Broncos lost to the No. 1 RedHawks 3-0.

Red and white jerseys suffocated the Western Michigan University hockey team (5-5-1, 1-5-1-1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) Friday night as they took on No. 1 Miami University of Ohio (9-1-3, 6-1-2-0 CCHA). The game was no nail biter, but the 3-0 victory for Miami, was not a cake walk either.

WMU held a strong defensive edge in the zone and multiple scoring opportunities, but the puck is not getting to the back of the net.

“I thought that it was a tremendous effort on our part,” head coach Jim Culhane said. “With the No. 1 ranked team in the country, I think that we played extremely hard.”

The game was aggressive from both sides for all 90 minutes and each team looked impressive on the ice. The RedHawks had a significant size advantage to the Broncos and the Brown and Gold held tough and hit back with just as much force.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlR81zilTyc[/youtube]

The penalties racked up in the first two periods, but it wasn’t until the third that RedHawk JustinVaive was kicked out of the game for misconduct. The crowd went wild for the dramatic call.

“It was a bit of a physical game from both sides. I think that [Chris] Clackson played well and [Ian] Slater did also.” Senior defenseman and captain Tyler Ludwig said. “That’s going to be happening back and forth and that is something that we have to play with and roll with and use that for our advantage”

Miami had a goal in every period. Its first at 10:02 in the first on a power play, was made by junior forward Andy Miele. Miele made the third goal as well, unassisted and shorthanded at 6:57 in the third. The second score was made unassisted and shorthanded at 12:19 in the second period by junior center Tommy Wingels.

“They scored the one power play goal, the first goal and that was a nice play there,” Culhane said. “Then you look at their two shorthanded goals and obviously you don’t want to give those up.”

Junior goalie Jerry Kuhn made some remarkable saves and held his own against the 24 shots on goal. WMU had 15 shots at Miami, but the puck still isn’t finding the back of net, a struggle that has been recurrent for the Broncos. Plays are being made, the lines look great on the ice but the lack of puck luck is costing the team.

“It was a hard fought battle, this game and I thought that we played well.” Ludwig said. “We had some key opportunities to score, power plays and stuff like that. You know they are a good team and they got a couple of opportunities and they capitalized on them.”

The Broncos will face off with the RedHawks again this Saturday night at Lawson Ice Arena.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=12352

Posted by heraldstaff on Nov 20 2009. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

http://HeraldStaff