By John Lachmann
OXFORD, Ohio – Cody Murphy had not scored a goal in the first 10 games of his collegiate career, but it certainly was not for lack of effort.
As it turned out, he would follow up his first as a RedHawk by netting No. 2 later in the same period.
The freshman forward broke through with his first two markers as a Miamian in the RedHawks’ 4-1 win over No. 13 Notre Dame at Cady Arena, with his second coming nine minutes after his first in the third period to seal the series.
The win completes a weekend sweep for Miami, extends its winning streak to four games and vaults the RedHawks into sole possession of fifth place in the CCHA entering the final weekend of the regular season.
Playing on the fourth line, Murphy was the only player on either team with multiple points. His two-goal game is just the ninth by a Miamian this season, with the last coming by freshman forward Alex Wideman vs. Northern Michigan on Jan. 28.
Senior goalie Connor Knapp stopped 28 shots to earn the win, several in spectacular fashion. Knapp is 8-2 with a 1.03 goals-against average and a .958 save percentage since Christmas break.
Like Friday, Miami (19-13-2) took the lead early. Freshman forward Tyler Biggs fired a point-blank shot that Notre Dame goalie Mike Johnson got a piece of, but the rebound came to wide-open junior forward Reilly Smith, who knocked it in just over five minutes into the game.
RedHawks senior forward Trent Vogelhuber finished killing off a penalty and took the puck coast-to-coast down the right wing, and fired a slap shot that beat Johnson with 3:12 remaining in the opening frame.
Miami was assessed four unanswered penalties in the second period, but the penalty killing units kept Notre Dame (16-15-3) off the scoreboard.
Finally after an extended 5-on-3, the Irish’s Billy Maday was able to slip a rebound shot under Knapp’s pads after the goalie had made a spectacular save to cut Miami’s lead to one, 2-1 with 19:02 remaining in regulation.
Miami was issued another penalty after the goal, and Notre Dame went 5-on-3 for 1:14 straight before a string of three consecutive penalties were called against the Irish.
Which is when Murphy came to the rescue. Murphy beat Johnson on the short side, similar to Vogelhuber’s goal, with 15:32 remaining to re-establish Miami’s two-goal lead.
Murphy iced the game with 6:28 left when he stole the puck in his defensive zone, beat a Notre Dame defender and fired a shot from just inside the blue line that trickled past Johnson after it was partially deflected by an Irish defenseman.
Miami wraps up its regular season with a home-and-home series with Ohio State next weekend. The Friday game will be at Cady Arena at 6:05 p.m., and the teams will play at Value City Arena in Columbus at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday.
ANALYSIS: Goalie play was a key difference between these teams this weekend. Miami had it, Notre Dame did not.
The RedHawks were outshot, 60-42 in the series, yet they outscored Notre Dame, 7-1 (granted one Miami goal was an empty netter, but the point is still valid).
Knapp’s save percentage for the two games was .983, while Johnson turned aside just 85.4 percent of the shots he faced.
It also seemed like – similar to Friday – Miami’s forwards who could be on the chopping block with everyone healthy all played well.
Vogelhuber’s goal capped off one of the best shifts of his career, and Murphy has been nothing but exceptional since returning from his injury.
Sophomore Bryon Paulazzo, who has been scratched five times this season for whatever reason(s), dished out a couple of big hits.
And senior Matt Tomassoni – although he is not in danger of coming out of the lineup – blocked two shots, picked up an assist and had some critical unheralded clears on Miami’s eight penalty kills.
The defense corps was also solid again on Saturday, and Knapp would have stolen this game even if Miami only scored two.
Really, he would’ve had a shutout had the officials not decided to get whistle happy. The entire crew was brutal both ways.
There’s no way freshman Jimmy Mullin slashed anyone in the first period, senior defenseman Chris Wideman was called for a phantom high sticking penalty late in the second and senior defenseman Will Weber was taken off during a mutual pushing match when Miami was already shorthanded to create an extended 5-on-3.
Miami coach Enrico Blasi had to come close to getting tossed after that call, as he could be seen berating the officials.
Realizing they had erred, they assessed three consecutive penalties to Notre Dame, with only one – a hook on freshman Austin Czarnik skating out from behind his own net – was warranted.
Off-sides and icing were completely arbitrary – again, both ways – and overzealous linesmen booted player after player out of the faceoff circle for miniscule infractions, rather than just dropping the puck.
The win gives the RedHawks 42 points in the CCHA race, and Miami can finish no worse than seventh place in the conference.
The bad news for Miami
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