Senior co-captain Alden Hirschfeld scored his 7th goal of the season and junior forward Reilly Smith notched his team-leading 14th as Miami used another strong performance in net by senior Connor Knapp to defeat the Lake Superior State Lakers 2-1 in Taffy Abel Arena in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

The Lakers opened the scoring with an extra attacker powerplay goal late in the first period, but in a good sign, Miami was whistled for just four penalties as the penalty kill went 2-for-3 on the night. The goal was scored just after a delayed penalty was called against Miami and the Lakers converted with the extra skater as Miami could not gain control of the puck.

The RedHawks would tie the game at 1:13 of the second period as Hirschfeld found a loose puck and jammed it past Laker goaltender Kevin Kapalka and would take the lead a few minutes later when Reilly Smith scored on the powerplay at the 7:11 mark of the period.

Connor Knapp made 25 saves to collect his sixth win of the season and fourth consecutive. He has backstopped Miami’s past three games allowing just two goals and has made 79 saves (.975) lowering his goals against average to 2.04 and improving his save percentage to .922. Knapp is making a serious bid to take the reins and carry this team down the stretch.

Miami will go for their second consecutive weekend sweep tonight in the SOO. Faceoff is 7pm EST.

Notes:

– Miami outshot the Lakers 34-26 as the powerplay went 1-for-5 on the evening but could not convert on a 5-minute major when sophomore forward Bryon Paulazzo was checked hard into the boards by Andrew McParland, who was awarded a game misconduct for his efforts.

– It seems head coach Enrico Blasi still has not committed to Connor Knapp over Cody Reichard though Knapp has been superb since the break. From Dayton Daily News’ writer Pete Conrad’s column yesterday,

Coach Enrico Blasi has no intention of committing to either Knapp or Cody Reichard as his starting goalie in Miami’s next game, national award or no national award.

“We’ve told both goalies the week of practice will determine who plays Friday and Friday’s game will determine who plays Saturday,” Blasi said, “and it’ll be that way for the rest of the year.”

– The official Redskin Warriors “light the lantern” after wins is picking up steam.

– Chris Wideman, Curtis McKenzie, Blake Coleman and Jimmy Mullin had the assists on Miami’s goals.

– With the win, Miami has moved into a tie for third place with Notre Dame in the CCHA standings, is 10th in KRACH and tied for 10th in the Pairwise.

– Miami now has five 2-1 wins this year and improved to 7-4 in games decided by one goal this season.

– The RedHawks have 13 regular season games remaining with nine in Oxford. At 12-9-2, Miami has a realistic shot of getting to 20 wins again this year which would be impressive given a 2-6 start.