Hot goalie not enough to stop RedHawks

Broncos netminder stops 47 shots, but surrenders the winner to Miele with just over 4 minutes left.

Miami's Andy Miele and Western Michigan's Ross Henry battle for control of the puck during the first period of Saturday's hockey game at Miami University in Oxford.

Staff photo by Pat Auckerman/AP Miami's Andy Miele and Western Michigan's Ross Henry battle for control of the puck during the first period of Saturday's hockey game at Miami University in Oxford.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Photos: '09-'10 Miami hockey

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By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer Updated 12:46 PM Sunday, January 31, 2010

OXFORD — Riley Gill was starting to get on the Miami RedHawks’ nerves, the way they kept pounding shots at him and the way the Western Michigan goalie kept turning them away.

“It’s actually a little frustrating, getting that many shots and none of them are going in easily,” Miami’s Andy Miele said.

But with time winding down one finally did go in, off Miele’s stick, to give the top-ranked RedHawks a 2-1 victory over the Broncos on Saturday, Jan. 30, at Steve Cady Arena.

“You’ve just got to keep chipping away and they’re bound to go in,” said Pat Cannone, who scored Miami’s other goal.

Miele punched the puck past Gill 15:39 into the third period to break the 1-1 tie and help Miami improve to 18-4-6 overall, 15-1-4-2 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

The victory extended the RedHawks’ unbeaten streak in the CCHA to 18 games.

Miami outshot Western Michigan 49-16. It was the most shots taken by the RedHawks this season. And Gill, a senior, stopped 47 of them.

“I thought we played pretty good all week long,” said Miami coach Enrico Blasi, whose team swept the Broncos after scoring a 4-1 triumph on Friday. “Obviously, Gill played great. I think he saw 100 shots.

“That’s how we play,” Blasi added. “We’re a team that gets a lot of shots on net ... It’s tough (scoring so few goals on so many shots), draining on you, and you have to stay focused.”

Cannone’s goal came on a power play 4:22 into the second period, was assisted by Carter Camper and Tommy Wingels and gave Miami a 1-0 lead.

WMU defenseman Mike Levendusky tied the score with the first goal of his career 4:26 into the third period, but Miele answered with his ninth goal of the season, assisted by Trent Vogelhuber and Jarod Palmer, a little more than 11 minutes later.

“I just wanted to shoot it as hard as I could, that’s all I was concentrating on,” Miele said.

Miami goaltender Connor Knapp stopped 15 of 16 shots.

The series sweep was Miami’s seventh of the season.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.