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OXFORD — Senior forward Marty Guerin said "every single point matters and every single game is crucial" for the Miami University hockey team right now.

Apparently all of his teammates agree, emphatically.

Junior forward Ryan Jones slammed the Robert Morris Colonials with his second hat trick of the season and Guerin pitched in with two goals as the RedHawks rolled to a 7-3 non-conference victory at Steve Cady Arena.

Jones finished with three goals and an assist, Guerin also finished with four points by adding two assists, and Nathan Davis had a goal and assist as the 11th-ranked RedHawks (21-10-4) won their third straight game in the team's regular-season home finale.

"Every game is important from here on out," said Jones, whose 23 goals is a single-season career high.

"We can't afford to lose a game. Every game has national tournament implications."

"That's exactly how we're approaching every game now," agreed Miami coach Enrico Blasi. "They continue to get bigger and bigger every night."

Team effort

A lot of RedHawks participated in the scoring Thursday. Raymond Eichenlaub, Matt Christie and Justin Mercier each had two assists, Geoff Smith scored a goal, and Gary Steffes, Jarod Palmer, Kevin Roeder and Mitch Ganzak all had an assist.

Guerin's first goal was unassisted, it came short-handed 7:31 into the second period, and it also turned out to be the game winner. It gave Miami a 4-1 lead, and the Colonials stormed back to make it 4-3 before the RedHawks slammed the door the rest of the way.

"Every team has a tendency to kinda sit back a little when you take a big lead," Guerin noted. "(Robert Morris) is a good team. If you give them room, they're going to take advantage."

Jumping out early

It took Miami less than 6 minutes to take a 3-0 lead.

Jones scored the first two goals and Davis had the third.

"They're a good hockey team and we knew we had to come out fast," Jones said.

Robert Morris (13-14-1), which had goals from Chris Margott, Aaron Clarke and Kyle Friday, saw its five-game winning streak snapped.

A big cheer

With a minute remaining, Miami freshman goaltender Jon Whitacre took the ice for his first collegiate game and received the loudest ovation of the night. He even chalked up a save in the final 20 seconds.

He took the place of Charlie Effinger, who made 23 stops to raise his record to 10-6-1.

Looking ahead

The RedHawks and Colonials will conclude their two-game series Saturday at Robert Morris, starting at 7:05 p.m. The university is located in Moon Township, Pa.