OXFORD, Ohio — Despite a furious late surge, Miami could not pot a tying goal in the closing minutes.
Rensselaer fended off 11 shots on goal in the final 10 minutes to secure 2-1 win over the RedHawks at Cady Arena on Saturday.
The Engineers swept the weekend series, handing MU its fifth loss in its last six games as it transitions into NCHC play.
The RedHawks head to St. Cloud State next weekend to open their 24-game conference slate.
RECAP: Following a scoreless first period, RPI (4-3-1) took the lead 8:44 into the middle frame on a 3-on-1, as Jack Brackett threaded a pass through the slot to Felix Caron for a tap-in at the top of the crease.
Miami (3-5-2) tied it less than two minutes later during a 4-on-4 when Colby Ambrosio eluded a defender at the blue line, skated into the slot and flicked a wrister on net that was denied and Michael Quinn cashed in the rebound on his backhand from the right side of the net.
But the Engineers went ahead for good four minutes into the final stanza, as Jagger Tapper secured a loose puck in the corner and centered it to Will Gilson, who rifled home a one-timer stick side to make it 2-1.
STATS: Quinn’s goal was the first of his Division I career to go along with four assists, with all five points — one each — coming on Saturday games.
Ambrosio earned the primary assist, his first in six games. Matt Choupani picked up the secondary helper, as the linemates’ nine points are tied for the team lead.
— Miami’s plus-14 shot differential (31 to 17) was its best since Dec. 30 vs. Niagara, a span of 28 games.
— The RedHawks did not allow a power play goal for the seventh time in 10 games this season and head into NCHC play with a penalty-killing rate of 92.1 percent, eighth-best in college hockey.
— Once again, more shots has actually worked to Miami’s detriment. The RedHawks dropped to 0-5-2 when finishing with 22 or more shots and are 3-0 when firing 21 or fewer.
— MU averaged 3.5 goals in its first four games but just 1.83 in its last six.
ANALYSIS: Saturday was one of those games most hockey teams seem to face during a season in which Miami had more scoring chances and more possession time and was better in many ways, except on the scoresheet.
The first 20 minutes was pretty even, but the RedHawks were the superior squad in the second and much of the third.
Lots of credit goes to Rensselaer goalie Noah Giesbrecht, who stopped 30 of 31 shots including a flurry of quality late chances.
The Engineers also played solid defense late, giving Miami little to shoot at in the final minutes.
History will of course record this weekend as a pair of RedHawks losses, but progress was definitely made, and…
— The 4-on-4 was the best example. Miami held the puck in the zone for nearly a minute following coincidental minors, and the RedHawks were able to change units while RPI’s tired skaters were stuck in the defensive zone. Since that happened in the second period, it was the long change and much tougher for players to sub out.
Ambrosio finally juked his way through tired defenders and put the puck on net, and Quinn was able to crash the net and score on the rebound.
— Despite not being able to generate the equalizer, the closing minutes were also quality. The term ‘6-on-5’ is almost an obscenity in the Miami hockey dictionary considering the team’s past horrors, but the RedHawks possessed the puck for nearly all of the final two-plus minutes goalie Bruno Bruveris was out.
— In his postgame presser, coach Anthony Noreen said the third period was arguably Miami’s best of the season, but the RedHawks allowed a goal 4:00 in and seemed to be deflated as they were trapped in their own end for several more minutes.
The last half of that period? No doubt, some of the best hockey we’ve seen from MU in 2024-25.
LINEUP CHANGES: Defenseman Nick Donato played his first game as a RedHawk since March 4, 2023. He was listed as the team’s seventh blueliner, as Hampus Rydqvist was bumped from that slot to the second pairing.
Spencer Cox, who had dressed in four straight games, was a healthy scratch.
Bruveris was back in net after a two-game absence.
All 12 forwards slots remained the same.
STANDINGS: Miami finished its non-conference slate 3-5-2 (.400). The RedHawks were 6-3-1 in out-of-league play last season and 5-4-1 in 2022-23.
The last time MU had a worse non-NCHC record was 2021-22 when they went 3-6-1.
The RedHawks slipped one spot to No. 49 in the way-too-early edition of the PairWise rankings.
GRADES
FORWARDS: D+. Nothing wrong with the effort, but no one in this corps scored and only Ambrosio and Choupani earned a point. Raimonds Vitolins has been excellent overall since coming to Miami last season but he was invisible all weekend.
DEFENSEMEN: B-. Quinn scored Miami’s lone goal and continued to make progress defensively, as this corps held RPI to 17 SOG. For having not played a Division I game in nearly two years. Donato held his own in that seventh D-man slot, playing the smart, simple shut-down game fans remember in 2021-23.
GOALTENDING: B+. The first RPI goal was scored on a tap-in off a 3-on-1, and the other came on a one-time, point-blank blast. Bruveris only made 15 saves, but he controlled his rebounds and shut down multiple Grade-A chances, including a breakaway.
FINAL THOUGHTS: We’ll go into more depth later this week as NCHC play fires up, but somehow — despite the drop in non-conference winning percentage — this team appears better equipped to handle the grueling upcoming league schedule.
A completely rejuvenated penalty kill is one example. MU was 77.6 percent against the PK in 2023-24 and is 92.1 percent this season. And yes, the schedule is a lot tougher moving forward, but still, 14 percent is a marked improvement.
Depth is much improved as well. The 13-14-15 forwards and eighth and ninth defensemen each night are better than last season, and filling out the lineup card each night must be excruciating for Noreen prior to each game.
Miami finished with the worst NCHC record in the league’s 11-year history last season, going 1-21-2 and earning just seven points.
No sane person expected Noreen to turn this program around in 10 games, or even Season 1.
But Miami just completed the easiest portion of the 2024-25 schedule and won just three of 10 games.
Wins will be much tougher to come by in the coming months.
View From the Glass 