OXFORD, Ohio — For just the fifth time this year, Miami was outshot by an opposing team.
And for the fifth time, that opposing team emerged victorious.
Red-hot Minnesota-Duluth snatched the lead in the third period and never looked back, winning its fifth game in the last six outings.
Snowy Oxford was the site for this top 10 matchup, pitting No. 6 Miami against budding rival No. 7 UMD and the game progressed in line with the rankings – both teams traded chances until 7:12 when Justin Crandal converted his 10th goal of the year.
The power-play tally was immediately and emphatically waved off by official Scott Bokal, who deemed a Bulldogs’ player had interfered with RedHawks’ goaltender Jay Williams. Several minutes and several camera angles later, the call was overturned and the goal allowed.
Fifty seconds was all that stood between that marker and the RedHawks’ first. A nifty give-and-go from Blake Coleman to Anthony Louis and back to Coleman was finished cleanly past Kasimir Kaskisuo for his 11th of the season.
The second period was a fruitless one for both squads and it took until the third period for the Bulldogs to find twine a second – and eventually third – time. Tony Cameranesi corralled a mishandled Williams rebound and tucked it neatly inside the near post just 2:47 into the final frame. The second power-play goal deflated the RedHawks and despite a few man-advantage opportunities of their own, Miami failed to generate anything in the way of offense.
“They have a really good power play with skilled guys up front,” the Bulldogs’ Justin Crandall said. “It was tough, but I thought we stayed pretty composed and willing to block shots. That was really the turning point in the game there to kill off four minutes.”
The Red and White was obviously less enthusiastic about its dry spell.
“We had our fair share of chances,” Coleman offered. “We just didn’t put them away. They put them away. They were more optimistic than us and they stayed with the game and took it to us. It’s not acceptable.”
The Bulldogs, on the other hand, doubled their shot total in the third to finish with 32. It was fitting that UMD cashed in during the final frame as its two late goals increase the goal differential to a healthy plus-18, while the RedHawks drop to a minus-four in the final 20 minutes this season.
“They executed better than we did tonight in all aspects of the game,” Miami coach Enrico Blasi said. “They deserved to win.”
The nail in the coffin came at 15:31 from defenseman Willie Corrin, who kept a failed RedHawk clear alive to walk in and snipe Williams glove side. The only even-strength strike was enough to effectively end any hope of a comeback for the RedHawks.
“It was a big win,” UMD coach Scott Sandelin said. “I thought we had a good 60-minute game. I thought we played better as the game went on. We played a lot more responsible, smarter.”
Despite the underwhelming effort in front of him, Williams brought the same A-game he has all year. The netminder with the fourth-best goals-against average in the nation stonewalled 29 of the 32 shots sent his way, but Williams’ Finnish opposition was even better. Kaskisuo turned aside all but one of the 31 shots he faced and finished the evening with several highlight-reel stops to his name.
The loss drops the RedHawks to 18-10-1 overall and 11-7-1-0 in conference play, while the Bulldogs improve to 19-12-1 and an identical NCHC record to Miami. The two teams will resume battle Saturday evening at 7:05 p.m. EDT at the Goggin Ice Center.
