Cody Murphy potted two power-play goals, powering Miami to a 2-1 victory over Bowling Green and giving the RedHawks all the offense they needed in order to secure head coach Enrico Blasi’s 300th career victory.
Murphy had been on a six-game point drought and hadn’t scored a goal in his last 11 games. He said Blasi had put him on a new unit in order to generate more scoring and he was excited it paid off.
“I don’t feel like I’m contributing if I’m not a game changer, not a difference maker, so I’m trying to be that guy,” Murphy said.
This battle of the birds has been one-sided as of late, with the RedHawks remaining undefeated in the last 15 matchups (14-0-1).
The first period was a defensive battle that saw each team put just eight shots on goal, but the Falcons were the only ones to find the back of the net.
Freshman Mark Cooper scored his seventh goal of the season by tipping in a shot that senior Ryan Peltoma fired from the blue line at 16:36, redirecting the puck under the leg of Miami freshman goaltender Jay Williams.
Bowling Green coach Chris Bergeron said that he was surprised his team wasn’t able to sustain any momentum they built up after leading at the first intermission.
“We were trying to fight to get the momentum all night long,” said Bergeron. “It was as much them having it and not letting us get it back I think as it was us not being able to grab it. I couldn’t feel that momentum we were hoping to get at all.”
The RedHawks’ offense came to life in the second period.
Miami began the period already on a power play and used the man-advantage to tie the score just 51 seconds into the frame. Murphy fired a shot from the faceoff circle that Bowling Green senior netminder Andrew Hammond knocked down. Several RedHawks took swipes at the rebounds before Murphy came up and knocked it in himself to finish what he had started.
Murphy struck again on another power play 8:40 into the period. After the Falcons were whistled for having too many men on the ice, he was there to clean up an attempt by senior Curtis McKenzie that trickled behind Hammond.
Blasi said the team was doing extra work on power plays in practice and he was pleased to see his players convert on two of three opportunities.
“It’s just good to get our power play going,” Blasi said. “It just gives your team a big boost. They [Bowling Green] are a stingy team [and] they’re not gonna give you much.”
No one was able to find the back of the net in the final period, but the Falcons did threaten to equalize the score. Though they outshot the RedHawks 10-6 and went on three power plays (including one five-minute major) in the third period, the Falcons came up empty-handed.
“It’s just disappointing because we’ve been down this road before,” Bergeron said. “We’ve got to find a way to stop going down it.”
With No. 300 wrapped up, Blasi tried to downplay the gravity of his milestone, crediting former and current players and coaches he’s worked with.
“It’s just a number, but it represents a lot of good things that have happened over the last 14 years,” Blasi said. “Looking back, there’s a lot of good memories.”
