It was the largest crowd at the Goggin Ice Center since 2015, with a sold-out 3,642 fans on Friday night. They saw their Miami RedHawks a 6-5 overtime thriller about the St. Cloud State Huskiesimproving to 8-3-0 on the season, 2-3-0 in NCHC play.
The loss dropped St. Cloud State to 6-7-0 overall and 1-4-0 in NCHC play.
Related: 3 Keys for Miami Against St. Cloud State
Six different skaters scored ahead Miami: Michael Quinn, Ethan Hay, Kocha Delic, David Deputy, Casper Nassen and Matteo Giampa with the game winner. Goalkeeper Matteo Drobac stopped 14 of 19 shots, including three in the third.
St. Cloud State got two goals from Gavyn Thoreson, while Barrett Hall, Grant Ahcan and Tyson Gross added one each for a total of four different goal scorers. Netminder Yan Shostak made 28 saves on 34 shots in the loss.
Summary of the game
Quinn opened the scoring in the first inning on the power play, with a one-time pass home for the 1-0 lead. Hay didn’t get a point for the play, but he provided just enough screen to avert Shostak’s eyes.
Through one period, Miami led 18-3 in shots on goal and 32-7 in total shot attempts.
Early in the second inning, Hay broke free on a pass from Michael Phelan and seemed to score neatly. After an investigation into possible goalkeeper interference because Hay rammed his stick toward the net and may have pushed Shostak back, the call stood, giving Miami a 2–0 lead.
A turnover behind Miami’s goal later in the period set up St. Cloud State’s first goal, as Hall buried it to cut the lead to 2-1. Ahcan later leveled the score at 2-2 after a rebound in front of a Finn Loftus shot.
Delic restored the Miami lead with a wrister that beat Shostak’s glove side, with Deputy picking up the assist. Miami blocked 11 shots in the period despite a strong St. Cloud State offense.
Thoreson then somehow slipped through three RedHawks behind the net and hit five-hole on Drobac to tie the match at 3-3. It was the first shorthanded goal Miami has allowed this season. It was a bad defensive mistake and another soft goal given up so far in the match.
With five minutes left in the third, Deputy finally scored his first collegiate goal, ripping a loose puck past an out-of-position Shostak to put Miami back on top. Less than a minute later, Nassen tapped in a shot from Vladislav Lukashevich to make it 5-3.
But St. Cloud State wasn’t done yet. Gross scored with the extra attacker to cut the score to 5–4 with about four minutes remaining, and Thoreson struck again moments later, going to the top shelf to stun the crowd and make it 5–5.
After Miami had possession for the entire extra period, Giampa broke out in a two-on-one with Deputy and sniped from the top to win the game 6-5.
Miami earned two points instead of three after letting a 5-3 lead slip in the third, but for a program that hasn’t won much in overtime in recent seasons, this was a huge moment. St. Cloud State earned one point in the loss.
Miami finished 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and 1-for-4 on the power play.
Kyle Aucoin had his best game of the season when he returned from injury. He blocked a team-high four shots and assisted on Giampa’s overtime winner.
Deputy continues to improve every game. He scored two points, a goal and an assist, led the team with 11 shot attempts and made five shots on goal. Quinn, Nassen and Max Helgeson also finished with two points each. Lukashevich also got his tenth assist of the season.
Miami defeated St. Cloud State 34-19 and led 68-49 in total shot attempts. Miami also blocked 15 shots, while St. Cloud State finished with 14.
The matchups were about even, with Miami winning 49.3%, while St. Cloud State won 50.3%.
Puck drop for Saturday night’s rematch is at 6:05 PM EST.
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