OXFORD, Ohio — Not only did Ethan Dahlmeir record his first career win, he accomplished something no other Miami goalie had in almost five years: Earn an assist.
Dahlmeir turned aside 34 of 35 shots to lead Miami past Lindenwood, 4-1 at Cady Arena on Saturday as the teams split the weekend series.
The last time a RedHawks goalie picked up a helper was Ryan Larkin on Feb. 28, 2020.
Miami (3-3-2), which snapped its three-game losing streak, hosts RPI next weekend in the back end of a four-game homestand.
RECAP: The RedHawks went ahead at the 5:30 mark of the first period when Christophe Fillion left a drop pass for Frankie Carogioiello, who stepped into a wrist shot and beat goalie Owen Bartoszkiewicz far post from the right faceoff circle.
Lindenwood (2-4) tied the score with 49 seconds left in the opening stanza, as a wide-open Drew Kuzma redirected a pass from the half wall past Dahlmeir at the top of the crease.
But Miami regained the lead for good with 3:43 remaining in the second frame on a one-time blast by Casper Nassen from the top of the left faceoff circle teed up by a Michael Quinn feed.
During a major penalty kill, the RedHawks’ Raimonds Vitolins intercepted a pass at his own blue line, skated in unabated and roofed a backhander over Bartoszkiewicz with 8:49 left in regulation, making it 3-1.
MU sealed it following a scramble in front of its own net, as Fillion gloved down a loose puck in his own end, skated to center ice and lifted a backhander into the empty net with 90 seconds to play.
STATS: Fillion finished with a goal and an assist for a game-high two points, his first multi-point game as a RedHawk and the 12th of his career.
Nassen’s goal was his third of the season, tying him with Matt Choupani and Colby Ambrosio for the team lead.
It was the first marker of 2024-25 for both Carogioiello and Vitolins.
Carogioiello had not scored since Oct. 8, 2023, as he missed all but four games last season due to injury. Vitolins snapped a 14-game scoring drought, although he is tied for the team lead in assists (5) and has six points overall.
Johnny Waldron also has a 1-5-6 line this season after earning a helper.
Ryan Sullivan was credited with an assist on the Nassen goal, his first of 2024-25 and his third point.
Defensemen Quinn and Spencer Cox also earned assists. It was Quinn’s fourth of the season — one each on Miami’s four Saturday games — and Cox’s first.
— And of course Dahlmeir. His 34 saves were the most for a goalie in his first RedHawks win since Logan Neaton three years ago, and the similarities between this game and that one are striking.
In that Nov. 27, 2021 win over Long Island (the team Cox played for that season), Neaton stopped 35 of 36 shots, and the final score was also 4-1 (Dahlmeir was 34-for-35).
Miami was 1-for-2 on the power play both nights and scored a shorthanded goal in each game, the and in both cases it was the RedHawks’ second SHG of the season. The penalty kill was 5 of 5 in this game, 5-for-6 in 2021.
— So that also covered the special teams stats. MU raised its power play percentage to 25.0, tied for 12th in the NCAA. That PK is now 93.9 percent, seventh-best in Division I.
— Despite the win, Miami was outshot, 35-17. The minus-18 disparity is the RedHawks’ worst since Feb. 24 at Denver when they lost on the shot counter, 47-28.
The last time they were doubled up on shots was Nov. 17, 2023 at North Dakota (actually more than tripled up, 42-13).
— So how important are shots on goal? Miami’s 2024-25 stats say not at all.
Another truly bizarre stat: The RedHawks are 0-3-2 when generating 24 or more shots and 3-0 when finishing with fewer.
They have 15, 21 and 17 SOG in their wins, 30 and 38 in a pair of ties and 24, 26 and 33 in losses.
ANALYSIS: For Miami, there was a lot to like in this game.
The third period — three of the dirtiest words in the RedHawks’ dictionary — has been a train wreck setting fire to a dumpster in recent years, but MU closed this game out strong and did so having to kill nine minutes of penalties including a major to one of its best PK defensemen.
Not only did the RedHawks, who led 2-1 entering the final stanza, hold the lead during that extended shorthanded stint, Vitolins added to Miami’s lead with his SHG.
Lindenwood also pulled Bartoszkiewicz with three minutes left, and the RedHawks turned that 5-on-6 into an empty netter by Fillion.
— Which leads us to Dahlmeir, who was outstanding in his first win.
It was just the third appearance and second start of his career: He let in four goals on 27 shots in a tie at Ferris State, looking a little nervous earlier but better as the game went on, then he went 8-for-8 in relief in the opener vs. Robert Morris last weekend.
Not only was this a breakout performance, the 6-3 freshman — known more for his textbook positioning — showed his athleticism while scrambling to cover or poke away loose pucks.
(He had one episode around his crease where a misplay nearly ended up in his own net but he quickly recovered and fortunately for him the shot sailed wide)
Dahlmeir stopped all 14 shots he faced in the third period and earned the assist on the empty netter, clearing the puck to Waldron, who batted it ahead to Fillion.
Miami has struggled with goaltending depth since the days of Jay and McKay in the mid-teens, and hopefully this game gets the RedHawks closer to their goal of having a strong 1 and 1a option in net.
— The turnovers were down from Friday. It seemed like too often in the series opener that guys were trying to carry the puck through multiple defenders or make highlight-reel passes that were either sticked away or intercepted.
The top three lines really jived, with Chicagoans Waldron and Max Dukovac moving the puck well together on the top line and Vitolins working well with Ambrosio and Choupani. And Fillion set up Carogioiello’s goal, and that line along with Sullivan was a force.
— Teodor Forssander made his collegiate debut at right wing on the fourth line, and he held his own in limited action. At five-feet, eight inches and 155 pounds, his size is definitely a concern as Miami heads toward the brutally physical league portion of its schedule, but he definitely looks like he can help this team offensively as he did when he led his Swedish juniors team in points last season, 10 ahead of teammate Nassen.
— Speaking of Nassen, it’s harder to point to a player who has improved more in four weeks of this season. And as coach Anthony Noreen said in his postgame presser, this is his first semester in North America speaking a non-native language and taking a difficult class load.
Noreen said he has never coached anyone with a harder shot.
— Hate to mention the officiating because it seems petty and can take away from the credibility of a story, but this isn’t a crew Miami has seen…possibly ever…and calls were very inconsistent on both sides all weekend.
Both teams were very physical in this series, and it doesn’t seem like PIMs should’ve been 25-6 Miami on Saturday, including a major and with one of the minors against Lindenwood being too many men.
After a ruckus to end the second period, predicably calls that weren’t made the first five periods of the weekend became penalties.
The Demsey major was the result of a review following a coach’s challenge by Lindenwood — it wasn’t clear if that was warranted based on any of the angles available to fans.
But [segue]…
— Keep up the physicality. Cox earned hit of the night for the second time this weekend and shook up Ethan Zielke with a crushing hit along the boards, one of his five solid hits in the series.
Dylan Moulton was assessed a matching minor for a minor skirmish at the end of the second period.
Pushing and shoving was a regular occurrence. Miami didn’t back down from any of it and the team seemed to feed off it.
LINEUP CHANGES: Forward William Hallen was injured on Friday and did not play, and John Emmons was also scratched up front.
Forssander made his Division I debut, and Brayden Morrison also dressed and skated on a revamped fourth line, holding his own in just a handful of minutes.
On defense, the same seven dressed from the series opener but Hampus Rydqvist was listed as the seventh defenseman, and Cox paired with Demsey.
Dahlmeir had not played either of the previous two games.
STANDINGS: Despite the win, Miami actually dropped a spot to No. 52 in the way-too-early PairWise rankings.
GRADES
FORWARDS: B. Despite the lack of SOG, this was an excellent two-way effort by this group, which was missing a key center in Hallen. Hard work (or a hard shot) led to all four goals by this group. Both the forwards and defensemen blocked a ton of shots as well or that 35 SOG total by Lindenwood would’ve been even higher. Forssander certainly didn’t hurt Miami in his debut and showed promise in a handful of minutes.
DEFENSEMAN: B. Didn’t see the Demsey penalty and it looked like Cox was called for hitting someone too hard. Overall it looked like a good night by this corps, and Cox and Quinn notched assists. Like the forwards, the defensemen also blocked numerous shots.
GOALTENDING: A. Dahlmeir stopped 34 shots, and the one he didn’t was a tip from the crease by an uncovered LU skater that he had little chance to stop. Again, his performance was arguably the biggest long-term positive take away from this game.
FINAL THOUGHTS: As nice as the win was, the advances made in the long-term process were even more important.
The confidence boost in closing out a tight game despite an onslaught of penalties. The strong performance by a freshman goalie with a promising future at Miami.
The continued evolution of Nassen, who is becoming an early contender in the NCHC’s top rookie race. Special teams that bear little resemblance to the units of previous seasons.
Players sticking up for each other and not afraid to mix it up after the whistle when necessary, building camaraderie.
Noreen said after the game that there’s still a lot to work on, and he’s right. Miami opens league play in less than two weeks, and all of the other eight NCHC teams were ranked in the preseason.
But we’ll take the progress.
View From the Glass 