Spring Break
RedHawks to swoop in on U of M
Erika Hadley
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: Sports
|
"It's really become quite a rivalry, and I know both teams look forward to the games and both teams are much better after the weekend than they are going into the weekend because of the intensity and the emotion that's involved in the game," Miami Head Coach Enrico Blasi said.
After skating to a loss and a tie against the Wolverines in that pivotal series, the RedHawks redeemed themselves with a home sweep of the Maize and Blue Nov. 21 and Nov. 22 last year, and then suffered back-to-back defeats in Ann Arbor Jan. 1 and Jan. 2.
Both teams were ranked in the Top 10 for both series in 2008-09, and this year's match-up tells the same story.
"It's two of the premier programs in the country,"
junior captain Tommy Wingels said. "They're always a great team. Obviously, every time we meet it seems like we're both top five in the country, which is great. It's great for both programs, and we love it."
The No. 1 Miami University men's ice hockey team (6-1-1 overall, 3-1-0 CCHA) will battle its nemesis from the north this weekend at Yost Arena.
No. 4 Michigan (4-2-0 overall, 2-0-0 CCHA) holds a sizeable lead in the all-time series 68-20-3 - including a significant 43-3-1 edge in Ann Arbor - but the teams have held an even ledger of 5-5-1 against each other since 2005-06.
Regardless, the RedHawks will have their work cut out for them during this weekend's road series in Yost's hostile environment.
"The atmosphere's great up there," Wingels said. "They have great fans and a well-known facility in Yost. It's got a lot of history in that building, but … we prepare the same way, whether we're going there or anywhere else. We stay grounded, we try to keep the fans out of it, and we're obviously going to try to do that in the first 10 minutes of the game."
The Wolverines are a squad that can score. Michigan's scoring offense is tied for ninth nationally, averaging 3.67 goals per game (GPG), while Miami ranks 19th with 3.25 GPG.
The Maize and Blue typically wins games in a big fashion, too. The Wolverines, whose 1.67 goal scoring margin ranks seventh, defeated Lake Superior State University by a combined total of 11-4 last weekend on the Lakers' home ice.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
DMB
posted 11/06/09 @ 7:11 PM EST
Well done, Erika is quite the hockey writer.
Miami alum '93
posted 11/08/09 @ 9:05 PM EST
Congratulations to the hockey team on an impressive sweep of UM at Yost! The UM hockey team dissolved into a bunch of thugs, and their coach had to publicly apologize for their classless behavior. (Continued…)
Post a Comment