Sparked by a three-goal third period, the nationally-ranked Miami University men’s ice hockey team earned a 6-3 nonconference victory over Bemidji State University Saturday at Sanford Center.
Forward Austin Czarnik led the RedHawks attack posting five assists on the night, while Riley Barber added a back-breaking short-handed goal and three helpers in the victory.
Radoslav Illo (F, Sr., Bystrica, Slovakia) paced the BSU effort with his first multi-goal effort of the season.
Trailing 4-3 with just under 13 minutes to play, BSU, which had already battled back to tie the game on two occasions, looked to get the break it needed when Devin Loe was whistled for a five minute checking from behind penalty and a game misconduct. The Beavers, which were already 2-for-5 on the man advantage, had visions of matching MU yet again, but Barber would net a short-handed goal and the Beavers would never recover.
The RedHawks jumped on sophomore goaltender Reid Mimmack (Brainerd, Minn.) early. Just 3:02 into his first collegiate start, the Brainerd, Minn. native had faced seven shots on goal and the Beavers trailed 2-0.
Loe netted his first goal of the season just 11 seconds into the game corralling a rebound off the stick of Mimmack and depositing it into the back of the net. The Miami lead swelled to 2-0 just 2:52 later when Blake Coleman posted a power-play marker.
BSU would escape the first period with the score tied, 2-2, after a pair of goals during the final 10 minutes of the frame.
Illo got the Beavers on the board at the 10:18 mark. The MU goaltender Ryan McKay made a save on a Jeff Jubinville (F, Sr., Edmonton, Alberta) shot, but Illo was on the right post to bury the rebound.
Jubinville tied the score at 2-2 when he netted his second goal of the season on the power play at the 14:01 mark of the period. Matt Prapavessis (D, Jr., Oakville, Ontario) got the play started feeding Danny Mattson (F, Jr., Minneapolis, Minn.) on the left goal line extended. Matson fired an odd angle shot off the goaltenders stick to Jubinville on the right post. The junior from pocketed the goal from his back.
Miami would regain its one-goal lead 4:39 into the second period on Loe’s second goal of the evening.
Playing from behind again brought out the best in the Beavers.
Aided by three power-play opportunities in the second period alone, BSU out shot MU 11-6 in the stanza and converted one opportunity to equalize the score. When Cory Ward (F, So., Las Vegas, Nev.) won an offensive zone face off directly to the stick of Illo at the top of the slot. Illo fired a shot in the upper right corner of the net to beat McKay and log his second goal of the night.
Tied 3-3 after 40 minutes of play, Miami’s Loe opened the third period with his second goal of the night to give the RedHawks their third lead of the evening. After Barber’s goal made it 5-3 at the 7:35 mark of the period, Alex Wildman closed out the Beavers netting Miami’s sixth goal of the evening.
The BSU power-play unit finished the night 2-for-6, while its penalty-kill held MU to one goal on three power-play opportunities.
Mimmack was tagged with the loss after making 23 saves and allowing six RedHawks’ goals. He falls to 0-1-0 in his career.
The Beavers (5-8-3; 5-4-1 WCHA) jump back into Western Collegiate Hockey Association play Dec. 6-7 when they travel to Houghton, Mich. to battle Michigan Technological University. The road trip marks the first time BSU has played on an opponent’s home ice sheet since a trip to Ferris State University Nov. 8-9.