Wolverines sweep Miami RedHawks in Ann Arbor
By Bob Miller –ANN ARBOR – Michigan junior defenseman Lee Moffie led the offensive charge for the Wolverines Saturday night in their 3-0 shtuout win over Miami, helping them sweep their two-game weekend series over the RedHawks.
Moffie scored two goals, and Shawn Hunwick gave Michigan a second straight night of outstanding goaltending agianst Miami, stopping all 29 shots directed his way.
Special teams were key in the game which was played in a highly-charged atmosphere after a very physical, chippy Friday night 4-1 win by Michigan in the series opener.
The Wolverines killed off all six Miami power-play chances with a suffocating penatly-killing effort and used special teams to build a 2-0 lead through two periods. Coach Red Berenson credited David DeBlois’ hard work on the penalty kill as one of the reasons the Wolverines had a successful two-game series.
“I thought all weekend he was solid,” Berenson said. “He and Travis Lynch did a great job. We use (David) Wohlberg, (Luke) Glendening, Zach Hyman and Kevin Lynch up front and I thought they were all outstanding this weekend.”
Michigan opened the scoring with Moffie’s first of the night, playing shorthanded on one of four Miami first period power-play opportunities. Despite being a man down, Michigan managed to mount a three-on-one break with Glendening feeding Moffie for the game’s first goal at 7:17.
Moffie clicked again for Michigan early in the second period, when sustained Wolverines pressure on the power play enabled A.J. Treais to find Moffie in the slot just after the Miami penalty expired. Moffie beat Miami goaltender Connor Knapp with quick wrist shot to extend the Michigan lead to 2-0 through 40 minutes.
Midway through the hotly-contested third period, Miami appeared to score a shorthanded goal of their own which would have pulled them within one goal of Michigan at a crucial juncture in the game. Hunwick had stopped an initial shot by RedHawk forward Matt Tomassoni on a breakaway, but the puck nearly trickled over the goal line before Moffie swooped in and swept it out of danger. A subsequent referee’s review resulted in a ruling that the puck did not fully clear the goal line.
Michigan’s Chris Brown scored on a nice individual effort, slipping the puck between Miami defenseman Will Weber’s legs before beating Knapp for an insurance goal shortly after the disallowed Miami goal.
Brown and Weber became involved in a scrap with only a minute left in the game in an outpouring of the emotion that epitomized the whole contest; each receiving fighting majors and game disqualifications that will result in a one-game suspension for each of them.
The Michigan win vaulted the Wolverines over Miami, Notre Dame and Ohio State into third place in the CCHA standings – they now trail only Ferris State and Western Michigan.
“I think our whole team is better,” Berenson said. “I think our team has more confidence right now and we have some momentum.”
The Wolverines see action next in a two-game series against Michigan State. The Wolverines will travel to East Lansing on Friday, then the two clubs will meet at Joe Louis Arena Saturday night.