DaytonDailyNews.com

DETROIT — Healthy, confident and on a roll, the Miami University hockey team is coming to Joe Louis Arena with the goal of making history.

The RedHawks have never won the Central Collegiate Hockey Association tournament, and they'll have to play extremely well this weekend to end that drought.

The journey begins today, March 21, when MU faces Notre Dame in a 4:30 p.m. semifinal.

"We know what we're capable of doing," Miami junior defenseman Alec Martinez said. "We've got a strong group of leaders and upperclassmen, and the younger guys have really followed. As a team, we've got a pretty good head on things."

The RedHawks are riding a six-game winning streak and split with the Fighting Irish during a November series at Steve Cady Arena.

MU coach Enrico Blasi is expecting another arduous task today, though Notre Dame lost its leading scorer — junior wing Erik Condra — to a season-ending knee injury last weekend against Ferris State.

"They're still coming off a big series, and any time you go three games and win, you're going to have a lot of confidence," Blasi said. "It's a team that's tough to play against because they don't give you any freebies. They make you work for everything.

"I think they're going to be even stingier than if Condra was in the lineup," he continued. "When you have an elite player out, everybody steps up and does things a little bit better, a little bit safer."

With Condra sidelined, sophomore right wing Ryan Thang (16 goals, 11 assists) leads the Irish offense. Five other Notre Dame players have at least 20 points.

Look for two of the CCHA's top goaltenders in this matchup — Jeff Zatkoff (25-5-1, 1.68 goals-allowed average, .934 save percentage) for Miami and Jordan Pearce (20-12-4, 1.95, .916) for the Irish.

"(The RedHawks) don't have any holes," Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson said. "They're deep in the back end and up front. Their transition is so good. You have to have great value for the puck. It's generated from opposing teams making mistakes with the puck."

Top-ranked Michigan and Northern Michigan will clash in today's second semifinal, and Blasi said his team isn't pondering another monster showdown with the Wolverines in the title game.

"You start doing things like that and you're asking for trouble," said Blasi, whose squad went 0-1-1 against Michigan last month. "It's not how our team operates. They know how difficult it is to get here and to play games of this magnitude. Michigan hasn't even crossed our minds."

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2194 or rcassano@coxohio.com.