BELFAST, Northern Ireland — For the first time ever, the Belpot Trophy is coming to Oxford.
Matteo Giampa scored two goals, including the game winner with 3:38 remaining and Matteo Grobac stopped 28 of 30 shots as Miami edged No. 20 Union, 3-2 in the championship game of the Friendship Four at SSE Arena on Saturday.
Casper Nassen provided the other MU goal — with Michael Quinn racking up a pair of assists — in the Belpot final to pace Miami.
Miami survived a furious rush in the closing moments to hold off the Chargers.
Drobac made two Grade-A saves down the stretch, including a sprawling pad stop on a semi-breakaway preserve his 10th win of the season.
RECAP: Giampa took a stretch pass from Ilia Morozov at the blue line in stride, went in alone and beat Union goalie Cameron Korpi high to the glove side with 6:58 left in the opening frame.
Union (9-4-2) tied it at the 4:18 mark of the second period on a blast by Etienne Lessard from the top of the right faceoff circle.
Miami (10-4) regained the lead with 10:02 left in that frame when Nassen unloaded a one-time slap shot from the high slot off a feed from Quinn on the power play.
But the Chargers tied it again when Connor Smith tipped in a floating shot from the left point from Lucas Buzziol 3:24 into the final frame.
Miami finally took the lead for good on a snipe by Giampa that somehow snuck through the wickets of Korpi.
STATS: Giampa found the net for the fourth straight game. It was his 14th and 15th points of the season, tied for second-best on the team.
He scored twice for the second time this season and leads the team with eight goals.
Quinn picked up the secondary helper on Giampa’s first goal and also set up the Nassen goal for his second career two-assist game.
Morozov earned the primary assist on the Giampa goal, his 12th point of 2025-26.
Ethan Hay also earned an assist on the Nassen marker, his third point in his last four games.
ANALYSIS: Miami had the better energy to start the first period and maintained a narrow margin on the shot counter.
The RedHawks finished the first period on the power play and drew another minor to start the middle stanza but couldn’t cash either in, and Union seized the momentum after intermission.
The Chargers held the puck in the Miami zone for a minute-plus before scoring against a tired RedHawks unit.
Union maintained the pace until taking another penalty, which Miami capitalized on and took the lead.
The RedHawks finished the period extremely well, but Morozov was assessed a minor for boarding (that could have been a major?) for a hit at the final whistle.
Miami killed the penalty, but Union tied in less than 90 seconds after it expired.
Special teams and 4-on-4 play dominated much of the third period, but it was Giampa at even strength putting the RedHawks ahead for good.
Shortly after the go-ahead goal, Union mounted a furious charge with the extra attacker in the final two minutes but could not generate the equalizer.
LINEUP CHANGES: None.
STANDINGS: Miami improved to 8-0 in non-conference play with two GLI games to play. This was the first win a tournament of any kind for the RedHawks since their 2015 NCHC championship in Minneapolis.
The RedHawks improved to 17th in the NPI at the end of this game.
FINAL THOUGHTS: What a weekend and what a first two months for Miami hockey.
Ten wins in 14 games and a tournament championship, with the final coming against a nationally-ranked opponent.
This team bears zero resemblance to the 3-28-3 squad of a season ago.
Miami has all of the confidence in the world heading into the heart of its schedule in December.
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