DaytonDailyNews.com

COLUMBUS — Miami sophomore Jarod Palmer told coach Enrico Blasi that he was going to be more aggressive on offense if given the chance in overtime Saturday night.

Palmer was true to his word.

The Fridley, Minn., native snapped a high shot over the glove of St. Cloud State goalkeeper Jase Weslosky just one minute, 20 seconds into OT to give the top-ranked RedHawks a come-from-behind 2-1 vicory in the first round of the Ohio Hockey Classic.

"Just before we went out for overtime, Jarod said, 'Coach I'm going to shoot the puck,' because he hadn't been shooting it all night," Blasi said. "Give him credit. He was ready to shoot the puck. He's like a prophet."

Miami (17-2-0) returns to the Schottenstein Center at 8:05 p.m. today to face Ohio State in the championship game.

Palmer's goal capped a late surge for the RedHawks, who were blanked for the first 53:16 of the game by the 16th-ranked Huskies despite entering the contest with the nation's best goals-per-game average (4.50).

Blasi figured his squad would be rusty after a 13-day layoff.

"Typical of a first game back," Blasi said. "We just didn't have our legs early. ... In the third period, we finally found our legs and started to do the things we do well. We got a couple of opportunistic bounces."

And Miami capitalized on both of them.

Justin Mercier knotted the game for the RedHawks with 6:44 to play. Palmer and Carter Camper assisted on the goal — Mercier's 16th of the season.

Mercier also played a big role in Palmer's game-winning goal.

"Merc went in there and made a great play on the forecheck," Palmer said. "He knocked the guy off his feet a little bit and caused him to make a soft pass up the wall. I saw an opportunity to pick up the puck. ... As soon as the lane cleared, I shot it and hoped. And it turned out all right for me."

Junior Jeff Zatkoff made 25 saves in net, and kept Miami in the game through the first two periods when St. Cloud State carried much of the play.

The Huskies (8-9-2) took the lead at the 7:36 mark of the second on a goal by Andreas Nodl.

"I thought we played well," said Huskies coach Bob Motzko, who was an assistant coach at Miami for two stints in the 1990s. " ... We're battling right now to try and close teams out. We did so many good things tonight. They had only 16 shots on goal with 10 minutes left, and I thought we were in control of the game. But we got back on our heels and waited for a mistake. And we made two of them."