Recap: Miami hockey routs Alaska Anchorage 5-1 in Friday night victory

The Miami University hockey team took to the ice for the first full home series of the 2026-27 season. The University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves traveled for their second series of the year against a National Collegiate Hockey Conference opponent, and the second series in three seasons against the RedHawks. 

Following an offensive outburst in the first two periods led by a line featuring sophomores David Deputy and Ilia Morozov, along with freshman Ryan Seelinger, the RedHawks defeated the Seawolves 5-1 for their second home win of the season.

A quiet first nine minutes on the scoreboard was substituted for aggressive physicality. Both teams took turns pasting each other into the boards or laying big open ice hits. The pushing and shoving exacerbated the intensity when just after the 10-minute mark of the first period, the RedHawks found themselves with two high-danger scoring chances in front the Seawolves’ net. 

Alaska’s freshman goaltender, Joey Rocha, came to the rescue for the visitors and made two big saves to keep the game knotted at 0-0.

With 8:45 remaining in the period, the Seawolves took to the power play for the first time after freshman defenseman Branko Vukas took a roughing penalty in a defensive zone scrum. 

One too many pushes to the back of an Alaska forward was enough for the referee Andrew Wilk to throw his arm in the air and call a penalty.

However, a man down didn’t deter the RedHawks from going on the attack.

Morozov slid in front of Alaska’s power-play quarterback, freshman defenseman Cooper Anderson, to force a shot attempt that was blocked and swatted away from the slot. A bouncing puck around the left side of the ice ended up back in the Seawolves’ possession for just a moment before freshman defenseman Cal Huston and Morozov forced a turnover.

Using his legs and his partner on the odd-man rush, Morozov played give-and-go with Deputy, resulting in a wide open net for Morozov to deposit the shorthanded goal. 

Even with the RedHawks up 1-0, the physicality continued. Tempers flared with 5:34 remaining, as a huge crowd of players pushed and shoved in front the student section, and just over 30 seconds later, the fans would be back on their feet.

Deputy poked the puck away from an Alaska attacker in the neutral zone, forcing another two-on-one opportunity, this time with Seelinger. 

Deputy found Seelinger with a nice pass, which he one-timed into the pads of Rocha, a big save for the visitors.

However, the play wasn’t blown dead, and Deputy followed the shot up. The puck leaked through Rocha’s pads behind him, and Miami’s leading goal-scorer last season collected his first tally of the year to put the home squad up 2-0.

Miami once again went to the penalty kill with 4:16 left in the first period with freshman Matouš Kucharcík sent to the box for tripping. But the RedHawks special teams allowed no damage to be done.

The last two minutes elapsed, and the teams headed to the locker room with Miami up 2-0 and leading in shots on goal, 14-2. 

As was the theme last time the RedHawks played in Goggin for their home opener against Robert Morris University, quick starts to periods set the tone. The two teams emerged from their dressing rooms, and just 44 seconds after the puck dropped Seelinger created an Alaska turnover at his offensive blue line and forced his way around a defender toward the front of the net. 

A shovel shot went through the upper body of Rocha and into the net, giving Miami a 3-0 lead early in the middle frame.

With 14:39 remaining in the period, Anchorage took a tripping penalty, giving the RedHawks their first look on the power play of the night. However, despite a handful of chances at the net, the Seawolves killed off the two minutes and returned to even strength, where they were able to find their game for more extensive shifts.

The RedHawks weathered the storm until the 2:53 mark. A defensive zone takeaway by freshman defenseman Timofei Runtso, who entered the lineup for the first time in his collegiate career following an injury, led to a counterattack rush. 

Runtso found Deputy ahead of him, and the sophomore took control, crossing the blue line and holding up for a moment before reinforcements arrived. 

The cavalry was sophomore defenseman Shaun McEwen, who moved downhill through the middle of the ice, fired a low wrist shot off Rocha’s left pad and the rebound found the stick of sophomore forward Ethan Hay. The RedHawks alternate captain smacked the puck into the net for a 4-0 Miami lead.

While he didn’t get an assist on the play, Runtso’s impact from puck drop was evident at even strength and on special teams. 

“He's a massive piece of our team,” Head Coach Anthony Noreen said postgame. “We just think he's going to get better and better.”

With 1:09 remaining in the period, sophomore forward Kocha Delic took a tripping penalty, giving the Seawolves a power-play to end the second and start the third. Miami killed off the first 1:09 and walked into the locker room with a four goal lead.

The Seawolves closed the shots gap in the second period, as the RedHawks led by just one that went on goal, 8-7. 

Miami started quick once more, but not in the area they were looking for. With 34 seconds remaining on the Delic penalty, Morozov took a penalty for checking from behind, giving Alaska a brief 5-on-3 penalty in an important moment of the game. The RedHawks, however, managed to kill both off.

“I thought that was one of our really good moments in the game,” Noreen said. “It's one of those moments where the whole bench knows how important that is, and I thought you felt that.”

With a man down, Deputy was officially credited with an assist on Seelinger’s goal early in the second period, giving him four points for the night. 

With 5:20 gone in the third period, Miami returned to the man advantage thanks to a heroic effort from sophomore forward Austin Baker to draw a hook. Once again the power play units were able to generate momentum. But nothing made it past the goalie Rocha, and the Seawolves penalty kill intercepted enough dangerous passes to keep the RedHawks off the board.

Less than four minutes later, Kucharcík won a one-on-one battle along the right side boards and found Huston at the right point. The Youngstown, Ohio native played the puck across to his defense partner, junior David Helledy, with enough room to skate in for a shot.

The Bentley University transfer skated into space and fired a shot over the short side shoulder of Rocha, scoring his first goal as a RedHawk with the snipe and giving Miami a 5-0 lead.

With 5:09 remaining in the period, following a physical shift in the defensive zone from the Seawolves and a good counterattack, Miami junior goaltender Matteo Drobac had his shutout broken. 

Alaska forced the puck below Miami’s goal line, drawing three different Miami defenders below as well. A poor line change by Miami gave junior defenseman Drew Hockley miles of space to receive a pass from down low by sophomore forward Jacob Terpstra. He made it all the way to the bottom of the faceoff circle and fired the puck home to cut Miami’s lead to four.

Senior forward and Seawolves captain Karter McNarland registered the secondary assist on the play.

The last five minutes ran down, and the two teams came together after the final buzzer, but no amount of pushing and shoving changed the result. Miami emerged victorious, 5-1.

Deputy finished the night with four points, his second of three games where he has tallied at least three. He registered three assists against Robert Morris in the RedHawks’ home opener. He’s also the fourth RedHawk in the last seven seasons to have a four-point game. Two of those have come within a week, as senior forward Matteo Giampa recorded four assists against Robert Morris as well.

In conjunction with Morozov and Seelinger, their line tallied seven total points on the night.

“Last year (Ilia and I) kind of built some chemistry together, and it's nice to get back to that,” Deputy said. “And then with (Seelinger) he's similar to the way I play in a lot of ways with the skating and the fast pace. It's just been so fun to play with him … I hope we stay together. It's really fun playing with those two.”

The RedHawks tallied their second win of the season at home, and they moved to 4-1-0 through the first five games. But the Seawolves, now 1-6-0, did not back down as the game moved forward. Instead, the physicality and intensity from the visitors ramped up, and tomorrow’s contest is sure to be similar.

“We know they're going to come out hard again tomorrow, but when we're physically engaged, emotionally engaged in the right way in this rink, the crowd gets into it,” Noreen said. “We feed off it. They feed off us, and that's when this place comes to life. So we know that's a huge part of what we want to be.”

The RedHawks will take on the Seawolves in the second game of the series at 6:05 p.m. on Oct. 24 at Goggin Ice Center.