The Miami RedHawks (NCHC) blanked the RIT Tigers (AHA) 4-0 in their first game of the Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Friday. Miami remains undefeated in non-conference play this season with a 7-0 record and improved their overall record to 9-4-0. RIT dropped to 9-5-0 in the loss.
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Four different skaters scored for the RedHawks: Bradley Walker, Ilia Morozov, Matteo Giampa, and Doug Grimes, while goaltender Matteo Drobac earned his second shutout of the season, stopping 23 of the 23 shots he faced.
Game Recap
Walker opened the scoring just under three minutes into the first, sniping one home from the slot off a pass from Ethan Hay for an early 1-0 Miami lead. It was Walker’s second goal as a RedHawk and Nick Mikan’s first point as a RedHawk, who earned an assist on the goal.
On Miami’s second power play of the game, Morozov blasted one home top shelf from the right circle off a pass from Vladislav Lukashevich to make it 2-0 Miami.
Despite a heavy push from RIT late in the second and most of the third, Miami held onto the lead behind a couple of great penalty kills.
Late in the third, Giampa flipped the puck down the ice into an empty net, and then Grimes deflected a Casper Nassen shot into another empty net, which made it 4-0 Miami to end regulation.
Through 60 minutes of play, Miami outshot RIT 31-23 in shots on goal and 61-43 in shot attempts.
Miami finished 1-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
In the faceoff circle, Miami won 30 draws compared to RIT’s 24.
Miami blocked a total of nine shots as a team, as Ryder Thompson, who returned from injury in this game, and Hay both blocked two shots each.
Miami will face No. 20 Union College on Saturday at 2:00 PM EST, who routed Sacred Heart early on Friday at a final score of 8-1.
