OXFORD, Ohio — Miami’s roster overhaul paid off immediately.
The RedHawks brought in 21 new players this off-season, and 12 of them picked up a point on opening night, propelling MU to a 6-4 win over Ferris State at Cady Arena on Friday.
It was the first Game 1 win for Miami since 2021 and the RedHawks’ first overall victory since Oct. 26, 2024, a span of 342 days. MU finished last season on a school-record 26-game winless streak (0-25-1).
The teams wrap up their weekend series at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday.
RECAP: Miami (1-0) took the lead 7:30 into the first period when Michael Quinn slipped a blue-line wrister through traffic and past Ferris State goalie Noah Rupprecht on the power play.
The Bulldogs answered less than three minutes later, as a shot by Connor McGrath was stopped by Miami goalie Matteo Drobac, but the rebound fell by the side of the crease and was backhanded in by Josh Zary.
Xavier Jean-Louis gave Ferris State (0-1) its first lead on a wrist shot from the high slot that snuck past Drobac with 6:43 left in the first period.
Just 75 seconds later, the RedHawks leveled it at two when Vladislav Lukashevich connected on a two-line pass from behind his net to a streaking Matteo Giampa at the blue line for a breakaway, and Giampa beat Rupprecht high glove side.
The Bulldogs pulled ahead again at the 7:42 mark of the middle frame when McGrath redirected a blue-line blast from the slot.
With 14:17 left in regulation and three seconds after a Miami power play had expired, the RedHawks’ Doug Grimes backhanded the loose puck after a shot block and backhanded it from the slot to Casper Nassen in the left faceoff dot, and he ripped a one-timer home to even the score again at three.
Less than four minutes after tying it, Miami took a 4-3 lead when a Michael Phelan blast hit caromed off the end boards into the slot to Grimes, whose shot was stopped by Rupprecht, and Justin Stupka was able to poke the rebound in as Rupprecht tried to cover it.
Then with 3:37 to play on the power play, a shot by Miami’s Kocha Delic shot from the right wing was blocked, but the loose puck found Giampa, who chipped the puck over the sprawled-out defender and Rupprecht for his second goal of the night from the right side of the cage to extend the RedHawks’ lead to two, moments after barely missing on another scoring chance.
Thirty-six seconds later, Ferris State’s Emerson Goode backhanded a wrister that beat Drobac on the short side to make it 5-4.
But the RedHawks sealed it with 1:16 left, as Max Helgeson sprawled out for a loose puck and poked it to center ice for a streaking Bradley Walker, who batted the puck out of the air, skated into the offensive zone and fired it into the empty net around two closing defenders.
STATS: Giampa scored twice in his Miami debut. Only twice did a RedHawk net a pair of goals in all of 2024-25.
Nassen, Grimes and Lukashevich both finished with two points as well, with Nassen going 1-1-2 and the latter two picking up two assists.
It was Nassen’s second career multi-point game. His other? Against Ferris State on Oct. 5, 2024. And yes, he went 1-1-2 that night as well.
Grimes had just four points in two seasons at Boston University, three of which were goals. So he tripled his career Division I assist total in his Miami debut.
Lukashevich posted six assists and seven points last season with Michigan State and already about a third of the way to matching those totals one night in.
Quinn’s goal was the third of his career.
Freshmen Stupka, Walker, Morozov, Delic, Stupka, Phelan, Hay and Thompson all earned their first career points, with Stupka and Walker hitting the net.
— Miami started off the season 2 of 6 on the power play, or 33.3 percent. The RedHawks were 4-for-5 on the penalty kill (80.0 percent).
THOUGHTS: This was an extremely entertaining game, especially since it was played on Oct. 3 with the outside temperature in the upper 80s, well before most teams establish lines and pairing chemistry.
It had hitting — lots of it — scoring, great passing, great defense…at times, and an incredibly high pace.
And hey, Miami actually won! Kamala Harris was still favored to win the presidency and Justin Trudeau was the prime minister of Canada the last time that happened.
Remember when Coach Anthony Noreen said repeatedly last season that the RedHawks need to win second and third chances around the net?
Well, they did. The last three Miami goals — after the score was tied at three — were all on rebounds and second efforts. Jabbing, poking, exerting.
The RedHawks should be extremely proud of this win, which they completely earned through their hard work and resilience.
— The Helgeson-to-Walker empty netter might have been one of the most beautiful ENGs in the history of hockey. Helgeson sprawled out, in traffic, to poke the puck from his own blue line along the boards to Walker, in stride at the red line.
But Walker had to win the puck against a defender, who also had his stick out, and elude him and another defender while skating across the blue line and firing the clinching goal into the open net.
— Passing was very un-Game 1 and un-recent Miami history-like, especially considering the number of new players resulting lack of linemate familiarity and cohesiveness.
Not many poor passes, lots of occurrences of multiple on-the-tape, one-touch passes that resulted in quality chances.
Lukashevich’s 100-plus footer to Giampa alone deserves its own paragraph. He wired a pass from behind his net to Giampa at the Ferris State blue line in a change, on the tape, for a breakaway goal.
No wonder the Florida Panthers drafted him. He seemed to have the puck on his stick for half of the game.
— The top line of Delic, Morozov and Giampa was excellent, combining for two goals, two assists and 11 shots on goal.
— Speaking of Morozov, inquiring minds were incredibly curious about the 17-year-plus-two-month-old, youngest D-1 player handling NCAA play.
The boom was some reputable hockey people have him projected as a potential first-round pick in the 2026 NHL draft. Great hands, 24-year-old physicality and brains in a 17-year-old’s body.
But he only scored 22 points in juniors last season, and memories of Sean Kuraly emerge, and it took him a couple of seasons to turn into a force. He became an NHLer and is still in the league, but he wasn’t an impact player until he was 21.
Conversely, Morozov impressed in his first action against Division I talent. He handled himself physically, he moved the puck, he showed incredible hands, and he defends. In a one-game sample size, he was much better than expected.
— David Deputy, who we were so looking forward to seeing in D-1 action, was hit along the boards late in the first period and didn’t return. No idea on the injury or how long it could keep him out of the lineup, but he’s expected to play a major role this season for the RedHawks, and a major injury would shorthand them up front.
— Miami took too many penalties early, resulting in five Ferris State power plays. But the man advantages were 3-0 in favor of the RedHawks in the third period, and MU scored and was also able to run the clock down to preserve its lead.
— Walker was a physical beast. Depending on the ambiguous definition of hits, he threw out seven by our unofficial count through the first two periods. Then he scored the ENG in proverbial workmanlike fashion.
— Personal admission: This was a lot to process…11 of 12 forwards were new, as were 5 of 7 defensemen and both goalies. It was tough to even match numbers to names at times. We’ll do better as the season and our familiarity level progresses.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Great, hard-fought win against a team that wanted it as much as Miami did.
The program needed this. The fanbase needed this.
It was 342 days since the last RedHawks win. Ending that streak had to top the checklist of the coaches and players. Mission accomplished. In impressive fashion too.
But Ferris State is still a perennial sub-.500 team, and obviously the competition will get tougher.
The hope is this young Miami team will get tougher too. At least after Day 1, the RedHawks’ record is 1-0.
View From the Glass 