March 29, 2008

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Worcester, Mass. - It took some late game heroics, but the RedHawks were able to knock the Falcons of Air Force out of the NCAA Tournament with a 3-2 overtime victory on Saturday.

Junior forward Justin Mercier was able to send Miami into the Northeast Regional Finals with his tally 15 minutes into the overtime session, his 25th goal of the year. Mercier has been clutch for the RedHawks, scoring seven game-winners this year.

Extending his point streak to six games was freshman forward Carter Camper. His third period goal with only six minutes remaining in regulation sent the game into overtime. Since returning to Miami's lineup after missing eight games due to an injury, Camper has seven points in five games.

Standing strong in Miami's goalcrease was junior Jeff Zatkoff, who made a number of key saves to keep the RedHawks in the contest. Zatkoff stopped 23 of the 25 Air Force shots, recording his 27th victory of the year.

Just 19 seconds into the NCAA Tournament, with Miami's first shot of the game, freshman forward Tommy Wingels opened the scoring for the RedHawks, as he skated up the left side of the ice and put a shot past the glove hand of Air Force goaltender Andrew Volkening. The score was Wingels 15th of the year, and fourth during the first-period.

Air Force evened the affair four minutes into the second period as forward Derrick Burnett powered his way to the front of Miami's net and slammed home a rebound. The freshman now has seven goals and 26 points on the year.

The Falcons took their first lead halfway through the second period, when senior Josh Print knocked a bouncing puck through the legs of junior netminder Jeff Zatkoff. The goal was Print's first of the season and 15th of his career.

While enjoying a power play after an Air Force too-many-men penalty, freshman forward Carter Camper picked up a loose puck off of a deflected Alec Martinez shot and netted the equalizing tally for the RedHawks. With his two-point effort in the game, Camper now has 40 points on the year, making him the third rookie in the nation to achieve that plateau.

The RedHawks set the tone for the final six minutes of regulation, keeping the offensive pressure on Air Force, but the team was unable to put another shot into the Air Force net, sending the game into overtime.

Miami fed off the momentum gained during the third period, outplaying the Falcons in the extra session.

At the 15:21 mark of the overtime period, Justin Mercier skated into the offensive zone and chipped a shot over the shoulder of Volkening, sending the RedHawks to the regional championship for the second time in two years. By scoring the game-winner for the Red and White, Mercier tied teammate Ryan Jones and Michigan's Chad Kolarik for the most game-winning goals in the nation with seven.

The RedHawks will now take on the winner of the Boston College/Minnesota game on Sunday at 4:30. The game can be seen on ESPNU and heard locally on 96.5 FM.

NOTES:

Skating in his 160th game for Miami, senior captain Ryan Jones set a new school record for games played, passing Andy Greene (159).

With an assist on Tommy Wingels' first-period goal, freshman forward Carter Camper is riding a six-game point streak, including a point in ever game after missing the month of February with an injury.

With his unassisted tally in overtime Saturday, Justin Mercier leads the team in unassisted goals this season with five.

Miami owns a record of 22-0-0 when scoring the game's first goal.

With Saturday's victory over Air Force, the RedHawks improved their record when trailing after two periods to 4-7-1.

The Red and White are unbeaten in overtime games this season, boasting a record of 3-0-1. Miami came out victorious against St. Cloud State (Dec. 29, 2-1), Notre Dame (Mar. 22, 2-1) and Air Force (Mar. 29, 3-2). The team's only tie this season came in the second game of its series with Michigan, skating to a 5-5 stalemate.

Carter Camper now ranks seventh in school history in points by a freshman with 40.

The RedHawks had a season low for penalties in Saturday's game with Air Force, being whistled only once for two minutes.

Junior forward Justin Mercier is now tied with teammate Ryan Jones and Michigan's Chad Kolarik for the most game-winning goals this season (7).

With forwards Justin Mercier and Carter Camper scoring their 40th points of the season against Air Force, Miami is now one of four teams in the nation with three 40-point scorers (Miami, Michigan, Boston College and St. Cloud State).

QUOTES:

Opening Statement Blasi: It went the way we thought it was going to go. That game could have gone either way. We knew how well Air Force can play and it was no absolutely surprise to us. They did a great job and it ended up being an opportunity in overtime, it could have gone either way. This time of year that's the way it goes and you hope to be on the winning side of it.

Were you aiming low stick side on Andrew Volkening when you had the breakaway in overtime? Jones: Yes I was aiming low stick side. The pass came from the right side and he (Volkening) was moving form right to left and it just got a piece of his stick.

Take us through the winning goal? Mercier: The puck became loose in the neutral zone and I knew I could take advantage of the defensemen if I got him turning. I took the puck to the net made a move to the outside hoping to get a shot on net.

What did you guys think about the Air Force Goalie, Andrew Volkening? Jones: He made some really big saves and he's a big goalie that takes up a lot of the net.

Mercier: You notice the teams that make it to the next round have really good goaltending. He gave his team a chance to win.

Justin, how much of a sense of desperation was there, or were you just playing hockey? Mercier: Well I think in any overtime game you're playing with a strong sense of desperation, and especially in any playoff game that goes into overtime where one goal and it's over.

What is the status Nathan Davis (injured in the beginning of the game)? Blasi: I'm not sure, he had some ice on the upper body. It was kind of an upper body injury. I don't expect him to be back.

What concerns you about your next opponent, Boston College or Minnesota. Blasi: They're both great teams, we've had the opportunity to watch them as a staff and we pre-scouted them all week and we feel like we know what they can do. Obviously, Boston College has great speed and forwards that can hurt you up and down their lineup. Their defense is of course pretty good and we're familiar with them from the last couple of years. Minnesota, they're playing some of the best hockey that anybody's playing. Over the last five or six weeks, they've had to play playoff hockey up to this point.

Tonight's effort - will it be good enough for tomorrow night? Blasi: I think we played good tonight, Air Force is a damn good hockey team and we had a lot of respect for them going into the week. [Overtime] shouldn't be surprising. You win a championship in a conference of 10 teams, you're doing something right. I thought we played well, we sustained pressure, we made plays. We had good goaltending. Nathan Davis went down early so we had to juggle lines and I was proud of how our team played. Is it good enough for tomorrow? I don't know, but we're going to leave it all on the ice and whoever we play, we'll figure out a game plan and go from there.

What was the dynamic behind the bench in overtime. Blasi: We pretty much stayed quiet and let [the players] do their thing. We've been in this situation before; our guys had a sense of confidence. There hasn't been any panic in this team all year. You see it in our leadership. They don't crack under pressure. The guys are pretty calm and they know what they can do. You've just got to go out there and play.

Discuss how the offense played tonight. Blasi: A little of that had to do with their goaltender, I think we had three open net opportunities that either he made a big save or we didn't execute, and those things are going to happen. You need to stay in the game, but no question, we have to bury our chances.