Despite marked displays of power-play prowess during Friday night's contest and an early lead in Saturday's game, the No. 7 ranked Miami University men's ice hockey team failed to post a W against No. 17 Vermont.
The RedHawks took to the road this past weekend to clash with the Catamounts in a two game series in Burlington, Vt. After falling behind early in the first game, the Red and White battled back and forth with its opponent, ultimately falling just short with a 4-3 loss. Game two saw an early lead for 'the brotherhood' and it looked as though Miami would come out on top, but the Catamounts fought back late in the second and the two teams ultimately skated to a tie.
"I've been associated with hockey a long time and I don't remember two games that were that exciting from start to finish," Vermont head coach Kevin Sneddon said. "It was just a toe-toe battle from start to finish for 125-plus minutes including the shootout."
Vermont drew first blood just 18 seconds into Friday night's game when junior Viktor Stalberg scored off dishes from seniors Dean Strong and Corey Carlson. The lead was short-lived however, as sophomore Carter Camper capitalized on a Miami power play and tied the game at 6:53 in the first, assisted by seniors Alexandre Lacombe and Brian Kaufman. With this tally, Camper extended his point streak to 10 games.
Blasi's boys battled on and managed to take the lead before the end of the period. Sophomore Tommy Wingels skated in on the power play to post his first tally of the 2008-09 season, with Camper and senior Justin Mercier on the assist. All seven of Camper's points this season have been on the power play.
After starting off 4-on-4, Miami controlled the puck well early on in the second period and freshman goaltender Cody Reichard posted 11 of his 24 game saves during this period. However, the Catamounts managed to find the back of the net twice during a two-minute span, giving Vermont a 3-2 lead heading into the final period of the game.
Sophomore Pat Cannone brought the score back to even when he beat junior goaltender Mike Spillane in the net at the start of the third period. However Cannone's seventh point in two games just wasn't enough to propel the RedHawks to victory. Sophomore Justin Milo scored the game winner for Vermont at 15:40 of the third period, clinching a win after a hard fought 60 minutes.
"All in all I don't think there's anything we're going to adjust," Blasi said. "We've got the right guys out there. It's just a matter of executing."
The tables turned at the outset of Saturday night's game, as it was Miami who took the early lead with a shorthanded goal off the stick of Wingels. Lacombe extended the lead for the 'Hawks in the second with a goal off assists from senior Bill Loupee and freshman Brandon Smith.
Carlson and sophomore Kevan Miller scored less than a minute apart from each other near the end of the second to draw Vermont even with the Red and White before entering the final period of the series.
"I think we got a little bit tired there at the end, and not to take anything away from Vermont," Blasi said. "They did a great job. They made some adjustments, blocked some shots, their goaltender made some big saves."
Kaufman netted his first goal of the season 1:35 into the third, giving Miami a promising lead.
"We have a senior class and a junior class that have been here before and understand the demands to play at a high level," Blasi said.
The final score was sealed in a 3-3 tie, though, when Vermont's Peter Lenes beat freshman goalie Connor Knapp, posting a point off assists from Strong and sophomore Kyle Medvec.
"This is a work in progress for us," Blasi said. "We're a team that needs to gain some experience. We've got a couple of freshman goalies. We've got some freshman D that play a lot, and a ton of sophomores that play … Hopefully our leadership and our older guys can continue to lead the way."
Miami will play outside the confines of Steve Cady Arena again next weekend, as the team continues its road trip to face off against 2007-08 national runner-up, the University of Notre Dame. The puck is set to drop at 7:35 p.m. Oct. 24 and 7:05 p.m. Oct. 25 in South Bend, Ind.
