Photo: Courtesy The Miami Student

The Miami Redhawks (9-8-2, 4-4-1-0) scored their first goal 1:10 into the game and rode their fast start and solid goal tending to a 4-3 win. A sloppy goal by the Redhawks  Conor Lemirande started the misery for the visitors and the Miami goalkeeper Ryan Larkin withstood a barrage of 47 Pioneer shots – to only 19 for the Redhawks. The Pioneers  (11-6-4, 5-4-2-1) also struggled on the power play, again, and were 0-for-5 on their man-up opportunities.

After the early goal, Miami doubled their advantage in the second period when Russel Roark took a rebound and found the Pioneer net at 4:12. Dylan Gambrell put the Pio’s on the board ten minutes later as Denver peppered goaltender Larkin with numerous scoring opportunities. But, the Pioneers could never find puck luck or take advantage of quality opportunities the balance of the period. Four minutes into the final period, the Redhawks Casey Gilling made it 3-1 with a long-range snipe. Ten minutes later, Henrik Borgstrom got DU on the board to make it 3-2. However, less than a minute later, Miami responded with power-play goal by Louie Belpedio to extend the advantage to two goals. With three minutes to go, Dylan Gambrell scored a beautiful toe drag goal to make it 4-3 but Denver could not solve Larkin in the remaining minutes.

Another frustrating night for Denver. The Pioneers gave up several easy goals and could not take advantage of great scoring opportunities and dominant puck possession on the road. Denver returns tomorrow night at 5:05 MT to take on the Redhawks in Oxford, Ohio.