The last time Miami University and Northern Michigan University (NMU) met, the Green and Gold took two of three during the second round of the CCHA playoffs, stunning the brotherhood en route to Detroit and raising the question of whether Miami would even be admitted into the NCAA tournament. This season, the RedHawks redeemed themselves.

The No. 1 Miami University men's ice hockey team netted six total second period goals - including four on the power play - to complete a series sweep of NMU during Halloween weekend. The brotherhood has now outscored its opponents 17-8 in the middle frame. The Wildcats - who have yet to win a game at home - fell to 1-4-1 overall and 0-2-0 in the CCHA, while the back-to-back 4-3 and 2-1 victories lifted the RedHawks to 6-1-1 overall and 3-1-0 in conference play. Sophomore goalie Cody

Reichard played between the pipes both nights for the Red and White and turned away a total of 50 shots, garnering first star accolades at the conclusion of Saturday night's contest.

After a scoreless first frame, Miami netted four unanswered goals in the second stanza during Friday night's contest, and then survived a three-goal rally effort by the Green and Gold in the final frame to come away with the W.

Junior Justin Vaive opened scoring and earned his first career multi-point game with back-to-back goals at 3:06 and 3:47 of the second period. Vaive's first tally came on the man-advantage after NMU sophomore Andrew Cherniwchan was whistled for tripping. Then, 41 seconds later, the forward from Toronto struck again, this time off a pass from sophomore Andy Miele.

"After the first we realized we weren't playing our best game and we came out in the second looking for something more," Vaive said. "Northern is always a physical team. I've played them for three years now, and last year in the playoffs and we knew coming into it that they were going to battle hard and that they were a physical team. So it was a good feeling to get the goals and they came at a good time."

At 9:41, Cherniwchan received his second game disqualification in three games for ripping off freshman Curtis McKenzie's helmet during a scuffle in front of the NMU net, granting the Red and White a five-minute power play. RedHawk D-liners freshman Joe Hartman and sophomore Cameron Schilling combined for Miami's third tally of the night at 12:14 when Schilling fed the puck to Hartman at the right circle for a one-timer past senior Wildcat net minder Brian Stewart.

Sophomore Alden Hirschfeld stole the puck in a four-on-four just inside Miami's zone and beat Stewart on his glove side to extend the 'Hawks' lead to 4-0. This marked the third time that the Red and White has scored four goals in a period in 2009-10.

"Our first goal was a power-play goal, a great shot by Justin Vaive on the second one," Miami Head Coach Enrico Blasi said. "Then we had the five-on-four and were able to score there and a great play by Hirschfeld on the last one. It was a huge second period for us."

By the end of the game, Blasi's boys needed every point they had to secure the win, as NMU staged a fierce rally effort in the final period.

Wildcat Head Coach Walt Kyle pulled Stewart in favor of sophomore goaltender Reid Ellingson at the outset of the period, giving the Green and Gold some much needed momentum.

Just 41 seconds into the frame, freshman Kyle Follmer put the Wildcats on the board with his first career goal.

NMU sophomore Mark Olver cut Miami's lead in half with a tally of his own at 7:12, shot from inside the left faceoff circle on the power play. Then, at 14:16, Olver beat Reichard with a backhanded shot to bring the Green and Gold within one.

The RedHawks managed to pull it together and the score stood at 4-3, despite NMU's 12-4 shot advantage in the third stanza.

"I can take losing, but I can't take losing if it's sloppy execution and poor effort," Kyle said. "I was really happy with our team. I wasn't happy with the second but it was less of a team

breakdown than individual breakdowns. A week ago in this situation, we rolled over and gave up. Tonight we didn't, against a really good hockey team."

All three of Saturday night's goals came on the man-advantage, and the Wildcats took their first lead of the series at 11:43 of the opening frame. Olver scored a one-timer from the point for his third tally of the weekend, part of a 13-8 shot effort by the Green and Gold.

Continuing Miami's defensemen scoring trend, sophomore Chris Wideman netted the equalizer from the blue line at 9:28 of the middle stanza - his first career goal.

Just more than five minutes later, junior captain Tommy Wingels unknotted the contest and tallied the game winner to close out scoring for the night. Junior Carter Camper fed the puck to Wingels in the neutral zone and the forward from Wilmette, Ill., decked his defender for a one-on-one and beat Ellingson backhanded.

"They capitalized on two of our mistakes tonight," Kyle said, adding it was an individual breakdown in each instance. "It's not something that they picked us apart on. It's just one guy that broke down each time."

The RedHawks are now 3-1 when their opponent scores the first goal and 2-1 when trailing after 20 minutes.

"I am proud of the guys for the way we played, particularly since we have been a little under the weather," Blasi said. "We dug deep tonight. The power play was huge for us tonight and that's what you need when you aren't getting anything 5-on-5."

The brotherhood will take to the road again next weekend for a series in Yost Arena at the University of Michigan. The puck is slated to drop at 7:35 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.