Special teams play, brilliant goaltending and last minute heroics were the deciding factors in Miami University's conference-opener split with Michigan State University (MSU) at Steve Cady Arena Oct. 23 and Oct. 24. The RedHawks and the Spartans both came away from the weekend 1-1-0 in CCHA play, and Miami senior Jarod Palmer became the newest member of the 100-point club, as he reached the mark with a goal and an assist during Saturday night's contest.

A pair of goals by junior captain Tommy Wingels - one with less than two minutes remaining - earned Miami it's first CCHA "W" in 2009-10 and helped the 'Hawks avoid overtime .

Saturday, the Spartans solved Miami's penalty kill twice in the first two periods to go up 2-0, but the Brotherhood battled back with two of its own in the third, necessitating a fourth frame. A scuffle between MSU junior Dustin Gazely and Miami senior Jarod Palmer made it 4-on-4 at 1:53 in the extra period, and before either player left the box, MSU junior Andrew Rowe made a fantastic play, evading two RedHawk defenders to beat sophomore net minder Connor Knapp for the game winner at 3:19.

Both teams entered the series averaging four-plus goals per game, but Miami sophomore goalie Cody Reichard and MSU senior goaltender Bobby Jarosz each put forth a 24-save effort in Friday's contest, limiting scoring to a marginal 2-1 win for the Red and White.

"Cody had a great game for us in net," Miami Head Coach Enrico Blasi said. "I think he had two great subtle saves that no one really saw. One of them was in the second period, and one of them was down the stretch in the third. He made some pretty nice saves tonight."

After a scoreless opening period, the Green and White had a great opportunity to go up 1-0 when Rowe earned a penalty shot after being tripped on a breakaway by Miami sophomore Chris Wideman just 49 seconds into the second. Reichard stood on his head and stymied the Spartans to keep the action knotted 0-0.

After Miami freshman Steven Spinnell was sent to the sin bin at 1:07, the Green and White peppered the sophomore from Celina, Ohio, with five more shots on the man-advantage, but Reichard refused to let anything through.

Miami finally broke through at 11:45 and lit the lamp first on a 5-on-3 power play. Junior Pat Cannone found Wingels wide open and fed him the puck for a one-timer past Jarosz.

"He is our captain for a reason," Blasi said. "He goes out there and leaves it all on the ice. Tonight he was able to get a couple of goals, one of them took a lucky bounce, but we will take them anyway they come."

It wasn't four minutes before the Spartans netted a power play goal of their own. MSU junior Jeff Petry saw his shot blocked by Reichard, but freshman Derek Grant cleaned up the garbage and put away the rebound.

The second stanza was action packed as the teams combined for six power plays on nine penalties and 21 shots.

In the final frame, Jarosz survived a RedHawk onslaught to keep his team in the game until the final minutes. With less than two minutes left, junior Carter Camper drew the defense and left the puck for Wingels in the low slot, who beat Jarosz high on his stick side to close out scoring for the night 3-2.

"I thought Bobby was outstanding, and we lost on a tough goal," MSU Head Coach Rick Comley said. "Overall, I think we're getting a feel for how we are going to stack up with some good teams, and we are encouraged. We just have to put it all together and win the games like this one."

The Spartans pulled it together for Saturday night's game and dominated on their own power play opportunities, as well as Miami's. The Green and White scored twice on their own power play and cleared the puck again and again when the RedHawks had the man advantage. Meanwhile, sloppy passing, penalties and poor puck luck plagued Miami until well into the second period.

"We talked earlier, before the game started, about not taking stick penalties, keeping our feet moving, using our bodies, and we ended up taking quite a few stick penalties," Palmer said. "They got a really nice tic-tac-toe goal on the power play, and their power play's just really tough to stop, so we fell apart as far as staying disciplined. I think that was the biggest problem of the night."

Like Friday, both goaltenders made big saves early on, although this time it was Knapp for the Brotherhood and sophomore Drew Palmisano for MSU.

The Spartans' first power play of the game came when senior Gary Steffes was whistled for tripping at 7:54. This time, MSU wasted no time and capitalized on the man-advantage 20 seconds later when senior Corey Tropp broke through the action, evaded Miami's PK, and beat Knapp high with a wrist shot.

MSU's power play struck when Grant took a pass from captain Nick Sucharski at 0:38 and fired it over Knapp's right shoulder to double the Spartans' lead.

The Red and White generated some momentum toward the end of the period, but Palmisano stood tall, turning away 24 shots and shutting down all five of Miami's power plays during the first two frames, including two straight beginning at 8:34.

"I think the puck was definitely bouncing for (Palmisano) a little bit,"

Palmer said. "There was a couple of times where there was a deflection in front and we just thought that on a normal night it would have gone in, and it just happened to hit him in the pads, and then he happened to cover it, so we weren't getting very juicy rebounds. He definitely played well tonight."

Then, halfway through the third, Blasi's boys finally found the back of the net. The tally came on the power play at 10:20, when Palmer sent a centering pass to sophomore defenseman Matt Tomassoni, who blasted a slapshot from up near the blue line for his third goal in four games.

At 13:33, Palmer equalized the score with a 4-on-4 goal from juniors Andy Miele and Vincent LoVerde. The point was the 100th of Palmer's career.

"The moment I scored that goal, it was a pretty remarkable feeling to see the fans erupt like that and just know that I got 100 points," Palmer said. "That was pretty cool."

The Red and White found itself in penalty trouble again near the end of the period when freshman Curtis McKenzie was called for goaltender interference, but Miele put forth a brilliant shorthanded effort and skated circles around the Spartans, keeping the puck far away from Miami's zone.

It wasn't long before Rowe's effort in overtime put the game away. The loss was Miami's first .

"The one thing that we always preach is that you go through a little adversity and you don't tiptoe around it - you go right through it," Blasi said. "They played great for most of the game and they really shut us down. They didn't make our top guys do much. We were able to solve them there in the third period but they made some big saves. Their kid made a great play in overtime and scored a goal. We thought we got the momentum back in the third period, but give them credit. They bounced back and won the game."

Miami will play the next two series on the road, the first at Northern Michigan Friday and Saturday. The puck is set to drop at 7:35 p.m. both nights.