Miami Hurricanes Win Opener at AAU College Hockey Nationals

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – For many college students, 9 a.m. on a Saturday is a time to sleep or recover from a long Friday night. For the Miami Hurricanes, it was worth the early wakeup call.

For the first time in years, the Hurricanes got a win in the AAU College Hockey National Tournament with a 4-0 shutout of William & Mary.

“It’s a tough way to start in the morning, coming off a plane ride,” senior captain Chris Kourgelis said. “We [turned it] around and got the result they wanted.”

It took a few minutes for both teams to get their legs under them, and William & Mary matched Miami in the first on the shot clock, trailing only 9-7 after 20. 

Tribe goalie Nathaniel Raudenbush made the game’s first mistake 11:08 in, allowing a weak shot by Jonathan Naas to trickle under his pads and give Miami the 1-0 lead.

The Hurricanes never looked back, scoring three in the second. 

Kourgelis scored first on the power play goal. 

He was camped out in the right slot and received a perfect pass from Thomas Ferry II along the right boards. 

It was the tenth goal of the season for the Saddle River, NJ native.

Just under a minute later, forward Raymond Owens dramatically knocked in his 12th of the season. 

Owens cut around his defender from left to right and then back around to the left of Raudenbush to make it 3-0.

The Hurricanes faced a little bit of adversity later in the period. 

After Guntram Weissenberger was knocked down by what appeared to be a clean hip check from Christian Ivancich, he took it upon himself to retaliate. 

He made solid contact to Ivancich’s helmet, leading to an automatic major penalty. 

With 3:13 left in the 2nd and the advantage, the Tribe had what appeared to be their best chance. 

Instead, Elian Estulin, who was skating in only his 10th game of the year, came in on a shorthanded breakaway and dangled around Raudenbush, taping it in to make it 4-0 with 1:08 remaining in the period. 

It was the Newtown, Pa., native’s tenth goal of the season.

Miami goalie Macrae Hoffman played in just his fifth game and got his third complete game of the season, earning his first shutout. 

The Bryn Athyn, Pa., native got the call in the early game, but Harlan Jackson is expected to return to the net tomorrow.

Miami now looks ahead to their next game Sunday at 8 p.m. against the University of Rochester; William & Mary takes on Stony Brook at 8:15 Sunday