Miami University’s hockey team took a high-profile defeat Sunday, but nobody could call it devastating.

Indeed, the first outdoor game in school history and everything that came with the inaugural Hockey City Classic added up to a very positive experience, despite the 2-1 loss to Notre Dame at Soldier Field in Chicago.

“Anytime we can put our sport and our product out on a national stage, it’s important for college hockey,” RedHawks coach Enrico Blasi said. “Our recruiting and our program have always been heavily involved with the Chicago area. We like the type of person and player that comes out of Chicago.

“There’s a lot of Miami alums that are in the area, so Miami’s very well-known. We’re not the team from Florida. So it’s a natural fit for us.”

Sunday’s doubleheader — Wisconsin beat Minnesota 3-2 in the nightcap — drew a crowd of 52,051. It wasn’t typical hockey for numerous reasons, not the least of which was the playing surface.

Many hockey players grow up playing outdoors, but they’ve grown accustomed to smoother indoor ice. Soldier Field’s choppy ice prompted teams to chip the puck forward more often than usual to see if they could take advantage of the bounces.

“It’s always going to be like that just with the environment,” Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson said. “I don’t think it had a huge impact on the game. It had more of an impact on the style of play.”

The Fighting Irish victory did have an impact on the Central Collegiate Hockey Association race as they inched closer to first place. MU (50 points), Western Michigan (48) and Notre Dame (47) are the top three teams, and they’ve created some separation from the rest of the field (Ferris State and Ohio State are tied for fourth with 42).

The RedHawks (19-8-5) are holding steady at No. 3 in this week’s USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine national polls. Quinnipiac and Minnesota are ranked first and second, respectively, in both polls.

This weekend, Miami travels to Lake Superior State and WMU hosts the Irish.