Recap: Miami hockey dominates home opener against Robert Morris 7-1

Players emerge from their respective locker rooms and take a look around at the brick-laden arena. NCAA banners blanket the ceiling on the bench side of the ice where the home team emerges. Offices and league banners decorate the visitors side. 

Players put headphones in, tape sticks, do breathing exercises and warm up their muscles and reflexes.

Meanwhile, fans wearing their best red and white attire file into the rink.

 An hour later, the anthem is sung and the puck drops on another season at Goggin Ice Center.

For the first time in the 2026-27 season, the Miami University RedHawks hockey team took the ice in Steve “Coach” Cady Arena on Thursday, Oct. 15. The Robert Morris University Colonials visited Oxford for the first half of a non-conference home-and-home series. 

Miami and Robert Morris both entered following bye weeks and an opening series on the road. The RedHawks split the series at Northern Michigan University, losing Friday’s contest 3-0 and winning on Saturday 4-1. 

While the RedHawks were up in Marquette, Michigan, Robert Morris was playing in Madison, Wisconsin, against the No. 6 Badgers. 

The Colonials came away with two losses, but it was two close games against some of the best teams in the country, with Saturday’s loss in particular finishing 2-1.

Robert Morris and Miami threw in the same goaltenders used for the previous series. For the RedHawks, it was junior Matteo Drobac coming into the series with a 1.52 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.

Across the ice for the Colonials was the 6-foot-6 sophomore Charlie Schenkel. Despite the two losses against Wisconsin, he entered the bout with a 2.52 goals-against average and .938 save percentage.

It didn’t take too long for the home opener to ramp up on the ice. 

With just 1:17 gone in the first period, RMU junior defenseman Dominic Elliott took a hooking penalty on Miami senior forward Matteo Giampa. And 36 seconds later, sophomore forward Ilia Morozov hammered home a one-timer from the slot for his first goal of the season and the first goal of his career on home ice.

“It felt unbelievable,” Morozov said. “I know that I didn’t score any goals (at home) last year, but I like to celebrate with the crowd. It felt good.”

Sophomore forward David Deputy, the team’s leading goal scorer last season, in his first game back from an injury, recorded the primary assist for his point of the season, and Giampa recorded the secondary.

“We spend a lot of time on our power-play,” Morozov said. “All the guys are skilled, and we all trust each other, so I like that a lot. I trust that I can go to the soft area, and David Deputy’s going to get it to me.”

The Colonials began to find their game, gathering a couple of shots on Drobac that were all sent away. And Miami struck again three and a half minutes after its first tally.

With 5:39 gone, it was once again Deputy who created the RedHawks opportunity. A smooth transition from defense to offense on his stick gave Miami possession below the goal line. The sophomore then retrieved a loose puck and threw it behind the net where his linemate, freshman forward Ryan Seelinger, grabbed it and quickly wrapped the puck around. 

Schenkel couldn’t prevent the puck from going between his arm and left pad, giving Seelinger his first collegiate goal and Miami a 2-0 lead. Deputy tallied his second assist of the night, and sophomore defenseman Michael Phelan recorded his first assist and point of the season.

The play bounced back and forth between the two teams, with the visitors picking up pace and firing more pucks on net. And finally, they got the break they’d been looking for. 

With 9:03 remaining in the period, RMU sophomore forward Luca Primerano scored wide open in front of the net. 

A missed assignment from the RedHawks defenseman due to Primerano traveling around the net and the puck out toward the blue line gave him all the space he needed. Colonials junior forward Braden Rourke and junior captain Patrick Johnson collected the assists on the play.

Miami’s deficit now cut in half after giving up their first even-strength goal of the season, the Colonials looked to bring themselves back on even terms. But after a big hip check on Miami freshman forward Matouš Kucharcík in the neutral zone that left him writhing on the ground, the RedHawks returned to the power play.

The play was initially reviewed for a potential five-minute major penalty but was instead called a two-minute minor for tripping. 

RMU senior defenseman Luke Van Why was called for the penalty, giving the Miami power play the chance to go back to work and add some insurance. 

A tape-to-tape seam pass from sophomore forward Kocha Delic to Giampa set up another subsequent cross-ice feed to Morozov on the backdoor. He received the pass and was wide open, scoring the tap-in goal, his second of the period, while Delic recorded his first point of the season and Giampa tallied his second assist of the period.

Miami took a 3-1 lead into the locker room after what was a dominant first frame for the home squad. 

Good things for the home squad continued in the second period, too, not just on the scoreboard but on the bench, as Kucharcík returned to the ice and made an immediate impact.

“(The injury) was a scary moment for sure,” Noreen said. “It’s one of the few times as a coach where we’re probably thinking that he’s done. And then I’m addressing the team between periods, and all of a sudden he comes running back in, and no one cares what my message is anymore. But when you respond from things like that, that’s called being a hockey player. He comes back, and I think everyone kind of rose up from that.”

Just 2:57 into the frame, Delic and Giampa worked a give-and-go through the two faceoff dots, with Delic working away from defenders and opening up for a shot on the left side of the ice. 

The goaltender Schenkel stayed committed to the right because of a moving screen from Kucharcík, giving Delic the wide open net and the RedHawks a 4-1 advantage.

After 2:12 elapsed following the Delic goal, the RedHawks scored once more, and it was another collegiate first. 

Deputy once again took charge of play in the offensive zone, working from behind the net to the right boards and attracting two defenders. With the extra man committed, defenseman Cal Huston was able to slip behind and find wide open space at the point. He fired a wrist shot that appeared to take a change of direction and flew past the goaltender Schenkel for a 5-1 RedHawks lead. 

The two assists on the play were awarded to Deputy and Seelinger, the first assist of his collegiate career, and RMU Head Coach Derek Schooley chose to pull his netminder. The new face in net for the rest of the game was junior Lucas Massie.

With 9:40 remaining in the second period, Giampa and Robert Morris freshman forward Ben Pickell tussled behind the play, drawing matching penalty calls and 4-on-4 hockey for two minutes. However, 22 seconds later, Miami sophomore defenseman Shaun McEwen cross-checked senior RMU forward Jackson Reineke, who he believed to be too close to his goaltender Drobac.  

McEwen was ultimately called for a penalty thanks to Reineke toppling to the ground, giving the Colonials a 4-on-3 man-advantage.

Unhappy with the call, McEwen mocked the fall on his way to the box. 

Miami ended up killing off the penalty and went right back to work on offense.

The RedHawks scored once more with 6:29 remaining in the second period. Chaos erupted around the net as Miami had plenty of chances to score before the puck actually went in the net. 

Kucharcík first had the puck unguarded in front, but a scorpion pad save from Massie kept things unchanged for the moment. Then, bodies flew to the net as Giampa took the loose puck that bounced off the wall and threw it toward the net on his backhand. It bounced on top the net, and some whacks brought it down and in off Delic’s stick for Miami’s sixth goal of the night. 

The period finished with the RedHawks dominating puck possession and the scoreboard 6-1.

Just as the start was fast in the periods prior, the trend continued in the third period.

From an offensive zone faceoff 1:30 into the period, freshman defenseman Branko Vukas took the puck down the left wall and threw it to the middle. Sophomore forward Ethan Hay was waiting, and he deposited the puck in the net for a 7-1 Miami lead. 

Vukas’ pass netted him his first career point, and Hay’s goal was the first of his season.

Miami killed off a Colonials power-play that was awarded after Seelinger took a tripping penalty, but outside of that two-minute span, the RedHawks defense took control, suffocating any second- or third-chance opportunities around their own net. 

Robert Morris wasn’t without a fair share of shots in the third period, tallying 10 – the most of any period for them. However, even with a late power play after a roughing call to Hay, the RedHawks defense stood tall and ticked off the remaining time on the clock, giving the RedHawks a 7-1 victory in front of a sold-out arena.

“I think sometimes, when you’re watching the game from afar, maybe your eyes are drawn to the puck if it's up with the (defenseman) at the point, sometimes you don’t watch that interior and what it looks like,” Noreen said. “Against big, heavy guys fighting for that space, and getting underneath sticks, and then when (the puck) gets delivered staying underneath sticks and fighting for that positioning, that’s a huge part of what we do and what we key in on. 

“We want five guys collapsing. We always say, you’ve got to protect the most important area of the ice. That’s where goals are usually scored at this level, so I think to this point we’ve done a good job.”

Miami finished the game with seven goals at home for the first time since 2017, and 10 different point scorers led the way. 

Morozov and Delic tallied two goals, with those being the first two of each player’s season, while Deputy and Giampa registered three and four assists, respectively. Huston and Seelinger both scored their first collegiate goals. 

For Huston, with family watching and as the first Division I player from Youngstown, Ohio, it was a special moment.

“Great moment for those guys,” Noreen said. “I don’t know about (Seelinger), but I know Cal’s parents were in the stands, and obviously, being an Ohio kid, being the first Division I college hockey player from Youngstown, Ohio, and obviously, (Seelinger) being a guy that is one of the few who is a carryover and earned his way to still come to Miami, he had a great year last year. 

“It’s something those guys will never forget – to do it at home in front of a full house, and to do it on two pretty nice goals. (I’m) happy for those guys.”

Miami’s win gives them a 2-1-0 record heading into Robert Morris’ home opener on Saturday. The RedHawks will travel by bus to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Friday before looking to sweep the series on the road.