OXFORD, OH – On a rare Thursday night contest against Robert Morris University, the Miami University RedHawks (21-10-4) crushed the hottest team in the country 7-3. Robert Morris (13-14-1), owners of the nation’s longest winning streak at five, had not allowed an opponent more than two goals during their surge; however, the Colonials found themselves behind three to nil within the first six minutes of the non-conference matchup. The Colonials braved the storm but were never able to fully recover from their gargantuan early game breakdowns.

The RedHawks jumped out to a three goal lead thanks in large part to the newly formed first line of Ryan Jones, Nathan Davis, and Marty Guerin. An injury to starting forward Brian Kaufman against the Alaska Nanooks forced Miami’s head coach Enrico Blasi to shuffle around the offensive lines. After playing inconsistently for three games, the line seems to be starting to gel.

Jones’ first goal came just 1:10 into the game. Guerin brought the puck into the offensive zone, before finding Jones in the slot. Jones skated in front of the net and scored glove side on Colonial netminder Joe Tuset.

A little over two minutes later, on a power play, Jones and Guerin teamed up again to give the Red and White a two goal lead. Guerin rifled a shot from the left point and Jones deflected the shot for his second goal of the game.

The first line was at it again two minutes later with a goal from Davis. Defenseman Ray Eichenlaub took a shot from the point and Davis poked the rebound in for his 18th goal of the season for a 3-0 lead.

After stopping a flurry of shots, RedHawk goalie Charlie Effinger let one pass on a rebound shot by sophomore Chris Margott 14:03 into the first period. The goal moved the Colonials within two at 3-1. The score would stay that way after one period.

MU took a 4-1 lead on a shorthanded goal by Guerin 7:31 into the second period. Already with two assists, Guerin scored on an incredible individual effort. In between the circles with a defender separating him from the goalie, Guerin passed the puck by the defender and to himself, making the defender look absolutely ridiculous, scoring above Tuset’s outstretched glove arm.

Pushed to the brink, RMU scored two goals in the next five minutes, pulling within one at 4-3. The Colonials responded less than a minute after Guerin’s goal on a tic-tac-toe pass to Aaron Clarke. Clarke scored with three seconds remaining on an Eichenlaub penalty.