DaytonDailyNews.com

Miami begins the second half of its season at the Ohio Hockey Classic, hosted by Ohio State University at Nationwide Arena in Columbus tonight and Saturday.

This marks the third consecutive season that the RedHawks have competed at the OHC. Bowling Green will be Miami's opponent in the first round of the tournament, as the puck drops at

5:05 p.m. tonight. Ohio State and Minnesota-Duluth round out the tournament field and face off at

8:05 p.m. The matchups for the second round of the tournament will be determined by the outcomes of the first-round games.

Miami took home the 2005 Ohio Hockey Classic title with a shootout victory over Ohio State in the final game after skating to a 1-1 tie through 60 minutes of regulation and a five-minute overtime.

The RedHawks advanced to the final with a 3-2 overtime victory over Rensselaer on the strength of a goal by Geoff Smith with just 11 seconds remaining in the extra frame.

Miami enters the OHC unbeaten in their last four games (3-0-1) and have suffered just one loss in their last nine games. Miami's last defeat came on Nov. 25 at Clarkson. In conference action, Miami is riding a seven-game unbeaten streak that dates back to a 4-2 win over Lake Superior State on Nov. 11, and includes six consecutive victories from Nov. 11-Dec. 8.

Including a Miami sweep of Bowling Green earlier this season, BGSU leads the all-time series with Miami 57-30-7. The RedHawks have won six games in a row versus the Falcons, with Miami's last loss to BGSU coming on Nov. 27, 2004. In his eighth season behind the Miami bench, head coach Enrico Blasi is 14-7-2 versus Bowling Green.

In Miami's last series before the holiday break, it battled Ohio State in a home-and-home series, and skated to a win and a tie versus the Buckeyes. Ohio State leads the all-time series with Miami by a count of 54-50-9. Including five meetings last season, Miami is 4-1-2 versus Ohio State over the last two seasons. Head coach Enrico Blasi is 15-16-3 versus Ohio State in his eight seasons at Miami.

Should Miami and Minnesota-Duluth meet in the second round of the Ohio Hockey Classic, it will mark the first meeting between the schools.

Miami's power-play unit ranks sixth nationally as the RedHawks are firing at a 22.4 percent (33-for-147) clip with the man-advantage. The RedHawks have scored at least one power-play goal in 18 of their 20 games this season, and have registered multiple power-play tallies on eight occasions. Miami's season high for PPGs is four, a feat which it accomplished on Nov. 3 versus Northern Michigan and again on Dec. 2 versus Ferris State. Miami's 33 man-advantage markers are the most of any team in the country.