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NCAA HOCKEY TOURNAMENT
RedHawks ready for upset-minded Falcons
Saturday, March 29, 2008
WORCESTER, Mass. — The Miami University hockey team proved last season that NCAA tournament seeds really don't mean anything.
A year later, the RedHawks are hoping the seeds have some teeth.
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Miami is the No. 1 team in the Northeast Regional and will face the fourth-seeded Air Force Academy today, March 29, in a first-round contest at the DCU Center.
"By now I think everybody has accepted the fact that you really cannot look past any opponent or we will lose," RedHawks senior Ryan Jones said. "Our coach has beat that into our heads. Plus, I think this team has a ton of character."
MU registered its first-ever NCAA triumph last year as a No. 4 seed, conquering top-seeded New Hampshire 2-1.
Now Air Force is the bottom seed. The Falcons qualified for the national event last season for the first time, losing to Minnesota 4-3.
"There's no reason to warn (our players) — they know what they did last year," Miami coach Enrico Blasi said. "I'm so proud of the way the team has handled everything this year. It's always been very professional and a caring and passionate way that these guys have gone about their business."
Most observers will tell you that MU has played a more difficult schedule than the Falcons, who had to win the Atlantic Hockey Association tournament to get here.
Yet Air Force has depth and an extra burst of confidence from an 8-0-1 run, the longest current unbeaten streak in the nation. In addition, senior forward Eric Ehn — the lone All-American in school history — may be returning from serious injuries today.
"We are thrilled to be here," Falcons coach Frank Serratore said. "If we're hitting on all cylinders and doing all the little things we do in a game, we can put ourselves in the same position we were in last year.
"We watched a lot of film on (Miami), and that movie would be categorized as a nightmare," he added. "But they aren't any better than Minnesota was last year."
Air Force is clearly on a roll. Goaltender Andrew Volkening has been strong, and the Falcons are operating at a high level in power-play and penalty-kill situations.
The wild card is Ehn, who suffered a fractured fibula and ankle ligament damage in January. It seems likely that he will return to action against MU.
"I told him, 'I want to know if you're better than the 12th forward, that you're going to be able to cut in, to be able to keep up,' " Serratore said. "He felt he would be able to do that, and that's good enough for me. If there was any way he was even close to playing, I want him in that game with me."
Ehn has six goals and 19 assists in 24 games this season.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2194 or rcassano@coxohio.com.
