Joe Benik, who had three goals on the season before the tournament, scored his fourth goal in two games to push St. Cloud's lead to 2-0 a little over five minutes into the second period. Blake Coleman answered with a power play goal for Miami. Senior captain Steve Spinell fired a shot that went wide of the net, but the puck bounced in front and Coleman was able to lift it over Faragher.
St. Cloud answered right back, however, as Cory Thorson slapped a bouncing puck over McKay's shoulder to regain a two-goal lead. Miami was later forced to kill 1:12 of a 5x3 power play for St. Cloud, and will be looking to ride any momentum gained from that kill into the third.
Shots are 17-14 St. Cloud, and Miami is 1-7-1 when trailing after two, while St. Cloud is 20-1-0 when leading after two. So an uphill battle for the RedHawks, to say the least.
Last year in the first round, Miami scored three goals against UMass-Lowell in the third period to force overtime before falling 4-3. They'll need a similar outburst here in order to keep their season alive.