OXFORD, Ohio - Miami outshot Western Michigan by a 3-to-1 margin, but it took until the final five minutes for the RedHawks to notch the game-winning goal.
Junior center Andy Miele scored on the power play with 4:21 left in regulation as Miami completed its sweep of the Broncos, 2-1 at Cady Arena on Saturday.
Miami junior center Andy Miele (Cathy White/CNATI.com).
The No. 1 RedHawks (18-4-6) extended their unbeaten streak to 18 conference games (14-0-4), and for the 14th time in their last 17 CCHA games, Miami held its opponent to one goal or zero.
Early in the second period, RedHawks junior center Pat Cannone took a pass from junior forward Tommy Wingels at the edge of the faceoff circle closest to the goal line on Miami's left wing and wristed an odd-angle shot between the pads of senior goalie Riley Gill for a power play goal to open the scoring.
The shot margin was 20-3 Miami in the middle stanza.
But early in the third period, Miami freshman defenseman Joe Hartman blocked a Western Michigan shot, and the rebound bounced to junior defenseman Mike Levendusky, whose wrist shot beat sophomore goalie Connor Knapp for his first career goal to tie the score.
Western Michigan (6-15-5) took back-to-back minors in the final 10 minutes of the third period, and on the RedHawks' second power play, a Miele pass from between the faceoff circles found senior forward Jarod Palmer on the side of the net.
Palmer centered the sophomore forward Trent Vogelhuber, who fanned on the shot, but Gill was unable to freeze the puck. Teammate freshman defenseman Ross Henry, who was down in the crease, tried to throw the puck out of the zone, but it landed on the stick of Miele, who buried it in the net.
Miami outshot the Broncos, 49-16, and converted 2 of 5 power play opportunities. Western Michigan was 0-for-2 with the man-advantage.
Sophomore goalie Connor Knapp stopped 15 shots to earn the win. Knapp has allowed just five goals in his last five starts.
Sophomore goaltender Connor Knapp (Cathy White/CNATI.com).
Michigan State lost to Michigan on Saturday, and Ferris State got 2 of 3 points for a shootout win, so the RedHawks now lead the conference by 10 points over the Spartans and 12 over the Bulldogs.
Miami also has two games in hand over MSU, so Ferris State has the potential to finish with the highest point total among Miami foes. The RedHawks need to win four of their final eight games to clinch the league title, since Miami owns the tiebreaker against FSU.
BOTTOM LINE: Kind of a weird game, but at this point all wins are good wins. The 49 shots were a season high, but more of those attempts should've hit the net.
The 16 shots allowed is even better, especially considering sophomore defenseman Cameron Schilling did not dress.
Once again the Miele-Palmer combo worked their magic, resulting in the game-winning goal.
And once again, Knapp didn't face a lot of work - goalies will tell you those are the toughest games to play in - but he made the key saves when necessary.
GRADES
FORWARDS: B-. Two goals, 36 shots against the CCHA's bottom dweller. These guys really should've put at least one more in the net.
DEFENSEMEN: A. No Schilling, and The Binary Defense allowed less shots on Saturday than on Friday. The Broncos had an early 2-on-1 and minimal scoring chances after.
GOALTENDING: A-. Knapp was 15-for-16, and the one that got in he probably should've had. He had a pretty easy night, courtesy of the Miami blueliners, and gave Miami the solid effort it needed.
LINEUP CHANGES: Senior forward Gary Steffes sat out after playing on Friday, and freshman Steve Mason dressed in his place. Steffes has been benched for five of Miami's last six games.
Mason played his fourth game of the season, and has played in two of the last four.
This move was interesting since Steffes scored his first point of the season on Friday. The chemistry between Steffes, freshman Devin Mantha and junior Justin Vaive was excellent Saturday. With Vaive-Mantha-Mason the fourth line wasn't as good.
For the first time this season, Schilling was scratched from Miami's lineup. He played well on Friday, and was walking around, limp-free and bandage-free at the rink, so it's likely he was benched by coach Enrico Blasi for an off-ice issue.
Freshman Steven Spinell suited up in his place.
And as expected, Knapp started between the pipes. With both playing exceptionally, the rotation should continue.
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