The CCHA refs tried all they could to to put NMU behind the 8-ball, but the Cats were too tough tonight, and took the series. Next stop, Joe Louis Arena to take on Notre Dame at 4:35 Eastern on TV Friday.

The Cats faced tremendous adversity tonight right out of the gate. After a Tom Anasto’s “Soccer On Ice” call against Andrew Cherniwchan for 5 and a DQ, it was easy to think that Miami was going to jump all over the gift and put the Cats down early. But Mark Olver told the refs, Tom Anastos and the Redhawks to stuff it when he stole the puck and went in alone against Cody Reichard, beating him for a 1-0 lead. What a start. The Cats then fought off the rest of the penalty kill and went to the room with the lead.

In the second period, NMU came alive. The controlled the play for most of the period. Miami didn’t do much this period. When Mike Maltese put NMU up 2-0, the Redhawks knew they were in deep trouble, and so did the masterminds behind the CCHA crooked controls in Farmington Hills.

Despite being down to 5 defensemen, plus two starters to season-ending injuries, the D-core was solid big time. No team had been more short-handed on the D-line in the CCHA this season, yet the guys who stepped up and in, played fantastic. But the man of the night was once again Brian Stewart. Brian stopped 40 of 41 shots.

As expected, Miami threw all they had at the net. Enrico Blasi is a great coach and had his players in position to score. They ran into the wrong team–the Cats and Brian Stewart. The Redhawks did score at 17:53 with the extra attacker on the ice. But senior Nick Sirota refused to let this be his last game as a Cat. He put in the empty netter at 19:25 to seal the deal. The Cats are now 15-4-3 since Christmas. What team in the nation has been this good? Even Tom Anastos and the CCHA will be forced to acknowledge NMU this week. Good job Cats. They have the momentum to keep rolling.

NMU 3 Miami 1