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Updated 12:37 AM Sunday, January 22, 2012

By John Bombatch

Staff Writer

OXFORD — While Jimmy Mullin, Reilly Smith, Alden Hirschfeld and Tyler Biggs were scoring goals during the Miami University hockey team’s 4-0 shutout of eighth-ranked Western Michigan on Saturday night at Steve Cady Arena, RedHawks coach Enrico Blasi said some of the credit might belong to guys who weren’t on the ice.

“Everybody played hard. I like the way our defense is playing. ... (Matt) Tomassoni’s line played a key role tonight,” Blasi said. “They blocked a lot of shots and logged a lot of minutes so that guys like Reilly and Jimmy and Czarnik can be at their very best when they get out there.”

Mullin’s goal, which made it 2-0, opened the floodgates for 20th-ranked Miami, which improved to 14-10-2 overall and 10-8-2-1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association. The series sweep moved Miami into a tie for second with WMU (12-9-5, 9-6-3-3), just two points behind first-place Ohio State.

Smith scored the game’s first goal, Mullin scored the second, Hirschfeld scored the third, and before the arena’s PA announcer could finish announcing his goal, Biggs came through with the final score of the night.

“Jimmy scored a big goal for us. I think that was a big momentum shifter for us,” said Miami goalie Connor Knapp, who earned the win with 22 saves.

Mullin said his line is clicking at the right time.

“Reilly’s hitting big goals for us, Czarny is playing unbelievable, he’s making awesome plays, and I’ve been at the right spot at the right time a few times,” Mullin said. “When everybody’s clicking and Knapper is making big saves, it’s a lot of fun.”

Czarnik, Cody Murphy, Trent Vogelhuber and Ben Paulides were credited with assists.

“We’ve slowly become a four-line team where we play everybody, and everybody trusts everybody, and that’s a good sign. These wins in the second half have been a team effort. It’s a good sign, and it needs to continue that way,” Blasi said.

The RedHawks are back at home on Friday when they’ll play host to Northern Michigan.

“Let’s just say they took it to us and left us with our heads hanging when we played them in Marquette (Mich.),” Blasi said of losses Dec. 2-3.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2851 or jbombatch@coxohio.com.

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