The Miami RedHawks took down the No. 20 Union College Chargers 3-2 to win the Friendship Four and take home the Belpot Trophy. After beating RIT on Friday, Miami capped off the weekend with a championship victory on Saturday to improve to 10-4-0 and remain perfect in non-conference play at 8-0.
Related: 3 takeaways from Miami’s 4-0 shutout win over RIT
For the RedHawks, Matteo Giampa scored two goals, including the game winner late in the third, while Matteo Drobac stopped 29 of 31 shots to pick up his 10th win of the season. Casper Naseen scored the second goal of the match.
For the Chargers, Etienne Lessard and Connor Smith were the scorers, while Cameron Korpi stopped 25 of the 28 shots he faced.
Miami also became the first NCHC team to participate in the tournament, and they raised the bar by winning it. Programs from the NCHC will compete in the Friendship Four each of the next four seasons.
Summary of the game
Near the end of the first inning, Giampa broke loose in the offensive zone on a high flip pass from Ilia Morozov and nailed it top-shelf for a 1-0 Miami lead.
After killing two straight penalties, Union tied it up during a long offensive zone shift, with tired RedHawks stuck in the defensive zone. Lessard scored the equalizer at 1-1 with a shot into the top corner.
On Miami’s third power play of the game, Nassen blasted a one-timer home off a pass from Michael Quinn and regained the lead late in the middle frame.
Early in the third, Smith redirected a shot from the blue line to tie the game at 2-2.
Late in the third, Giampa put a shot on net that bounced off Korpi and then off a Union defender into the net for the 3-2 lead.
With an extra attacker taken out and the Korpi goalkeeper withdrawn, Miami held onto its one-goal lead, blocking shots and a series of great saves from Drobac in the final minutes.
Miami finished with ten blocked shots, four of which came from Ryder Thompson.
Union led in shots on goal 31-28 and shot attempts 63-55.
On special teams, Miami finished 1-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
Miami will make a quick turnaround and will take on the Denver Pioneers starting Friday, December 5 at 9:00 PM EST.
#Giampa #scores #Miami #wins #Friendship #Belfast #Hockey #Writers #NCAA #Latest #news #analysis