Hockey downed 6-2, swept at No. 3/4 Miami

February 4, 2013

University Relations

Jamie Foland
907-474-6807

Oxford, Ohio - The No. 20 Alaska Nanooks suffered a 6-2 loss and were swept in their penultimate Central Collegiate Hockey Association road series at the hands of the No. 3/4 Miami RedHawks on Saturday night at Steve Cady Arena.

Alaska got power-play tallies from senior forward Andy Taranto (Woodridge, Ill./Communications) and Nik Yaremchuk (St. Albert, Alberta/Business Administration), but the RedHawks got two goals apiece from Kevin Morris and Riley Barber and two more from Cody Murphy and Max Cook.

For the second time in as many nights, Miami scored twice before the Nanooks answered. Barber lit the lamp at 2:39 and then again on the power play at 6:28 of the first period to make it 2-0.

The Nanooks answered with a man advantage of their own at 8:59, when Taranto beat Miami goalie Ryan McKay on the doorstep off passes from junior Cody Kunyk (Sherwood Park, Alberta/Business Administration) and rookie defenseman Colton Parayko (St. Albert, Alberta/Business Administration).

Alaska battled back to net the equalizer at 11:28 of the middle frame, cashing in on a 5-on-3 power-play opportunity. Freshman center Tyler Morley (Burnaby, B.C./General Studies) skated across the left faceoff circle, holding his defender and McKay's attention, before sending a smart pass backdoor to Yaremchuk at the far post, where he one-timed it into a wide-open net to make it 2-2.

Less than two minutes later, Morris answered for the home team with his first of the game, which stood as the eventual game winner at 13:05 to make it 3-2.

The final twenty minutes saw Miami score three unanswered goals off the sticks of Cook, Murphy and Morris to seal Alaska's fate and secure the weekend and season series sweep (4-0) of the Nanooks.

The Blue and Gold return to Fairbanks to host the Ohio State Buckeyes for their second to last CCHA home series next weekend (Feb. 8-9) at the Carlson Center.