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 Derek Punches scored two power-play goals in Saturday's win over UAH. |
Jan. 30, 2008
GAME STORYLINES
Winner of four of its last six games, the Wayne State University men's hockey team (7-17-2, 3-7-0 CHA) makes its first of two trips this season to Bemidji State (12-11-3, 9-2-3 CHA) for a two-game series this weekend at John S. Glas Fieldhouse. Friday's game is set for 8:35 p.m. ET while Saturday's rematch is slated to begin at 8:05 p.m. ET.
Wayne State earned its first sweep of league foe Alabama-Huntsville in nearly four years last weekend in Taylor, earning a 2-0 shutout on Friday and a 4-3 overtime victory the next night. Bemidji State skated to a 2-2 tie with Robert Morris on Friday before notching a 4-0 triumph on Saturday, its seventh shutout win of the season.
The Warriors return to the Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum next weekend to host Robert Morris before hitting the road again to play UAH (Feb. 16-17).
BEHIND THE BENCH
Bill Wilkinson is in his ninth season as Wayne State's head coach and his 26th year as a collegiate head coach. Wilkinson's overall record stands at 433-461-81, while his mark at WSU is 120-160-28. He entered the 2007-08 season ranked 23rd on the NCAA all-time wins list.
In his seventh season at the helm of the Beavers, head coach Tom Serratore has a career record of 115-97-28.
THROUGH THE YEARS
Bemidji State holds a 22-8-5 advantage in the all-time series dating back to 2000. While Wayne State is 2-1-1 in the last four meetings including a split at home in November, BSU has won 15 of the last 20 games. The Warriors are 2-12-2 in Bemidji and have not defeated BSU on the road since posting a 5-0 victory on Feb. 23, 2002.
IN THE POLLS
Wayne State was selected to finish fourth in the College Hockey America preseason coaches poll, while Bemidji State was predicted to finish third.
ON THIS DATE
Wayne State won both of its prior games on February 1, a 4-2 result against Findlay in 2002 and a 5-2 win over Niagara the following season.
On February 2, the Warriors tied 1-1 at Air Force in 2001, earned a 4-3 victory at Findlay in 2002 and defeated the U.S. National Development Team, 6-5 in overtime, in an exhibition contest last season.
SCOUTING BEMIDJI STATE
Despite a 3-9-0 record in non-conference tilts, the Beavers have lost just twice in CHA action this season and sit on top the league standings in first place. Ironically, the last CHA loss suffered by the Beavers was a 5-2 setback Nov. 17 at Wayne State. Since that game, Bemidji State is unbeaten (6-0-2) in its last eight league contests.
Forward Matt Read leads the Beavers and all CHA rookies with 19 points and 13 assists, while senior forward Matt Pope has a team-best 10 goals. Bemidji State boasts three of the top six goal scorers in the league, as junior Tyler Scofield and senior Blaine Jarvis have nine apiece, putting them in a tie for fifth behind Pope who is tied for third.
Senior Matt Climie, the CHA's top goaltender, ranks third nationally with a 1.69 goals-against average and eighth with a .930 save percentage. He also has five shutouts to his credit this season and helps bolster a BSU defensive corps that has allowed an average of just two goals per game, tied for third-best in the country.
Special teams are a strength of the Beavers also, as they have the 16th-best power-play in Division I at 17.9 percent and the sixth-best penalty kill average (88.9).
LAST TIME OUT
Last Friday's 2-0 victory over Alabama-Huntsville marked Wayne State's first shutout win since a 4-0 result against UAH on March 5, 2005. Tylor Michel and Jared Katz had two points apiece, and Mike Forgie netted the game-winner in the first period.
WSU goaltender Brett Bothwell made history as well, not only by earning his first career shutout but by notching an assist on the Warriors' second goal of the game. He became just the second netminder in school history to earn a helper, as David Guerrera did it twice previously - March 7, 2002 against Niagara and October 26, 2002 versus St. Lawrence.
On Saturday, the Warriors held a 3-0 lead but saw it slip away as the Chargers scored three straight goals over a 10-minute span before freshman Chris Kushneriuk tallied the game-winner - his first career point - with 50 seconds remaining in overtime to give WSU a 4-3 victory.
Derek Punches scored two power-play goals, and seniors Stavros Paskaris and Derek Bachynski contributed two assists each as the Warriors swept a series against the Chargers for the first time since Feb. 28-29, 2004 in Huntsville.
Bothwell, who had 26 saves on Saturday, posted a .932 save percentage and a 1.45 goals-against average for the weekend while holding the Chargers scoreless on 11 power-play chances.
WSU NOTES
Paskaris, WSU's active leading scorer, has a team-high 21 points and ranks fifth in the league. He has 10 points in his last five games and ranks sixth all-time at Wayne State with 80 career points, tied-for-sixth with 52 assists and 12th with 28 goals. Paskaris has posted multiple-point performances in three of the last five contests including a two-goal game Jan. 19 against Niagara, his third career multiple-goal game and first since March 3 last season at Robert Morris.
After missing the first 18 games of the season, Bachynski has played in eight games in 2008 and has eight points in his last five contests. He eclipsed the 50-point mark for his career with two assists Saturday.
Not only did Punches post his first career two-goal game Saturday, he became just the seventh player in WSU history - and the first since Billy Collins in 2004 - to score two power-play markers in a game. Punches has set career-highs in points (12), goals (6) and power-play goals (3) this season.
With Punches' pair and Matt Krug's power-play goal to start the game, Saturday was the first time WSU totaled three goals in a game with a man advantage since Feb. 17 last season against Niagara.
Michel extended his point streak to four games with an assist Saturday. He has eight points in his last six games and is five points shy of his career-high of 23, set in his freshman season of 2004-05.
Sophomore defenseman Jeff Caister, whose five-game point streak was snapped against UAH, leads all CHA blueliners in scoring (2-17--19) and ranks in a tie for 11th nationally among defensemen averaging 0.73 points per game. He is also sixth and fifth, respectively, all-time at Wayne State in points (35) and assists (31) by a defenseman.
Three Warriors this season have reached the century mark in career games. Paskaris played in his 100th game against Robert Morris on Oct. 13 at the Nye Frontier Classic in Anchorage, Alaska, while Michel accomplished the feat Dec. 7 at Western Michigan as did Bachynski on Jan. 12 at Northern Michigan. All three players recorded a point in their 100th game as well. With 10 regular-season games remaining, three more players could potentially hit the mark - Forgie (98), Krug (94), and Punches (92).
After last weekend's victories, the Warriors are 4-2 all-time in six games at the Taylor SportsPlex. Wayne State swept AIC in 2003, earning a 6-2 win on Jan. 10 and a 4-3 overtime victory the following night. WSU and Niagara faced off at the SportsPlex on Nov. 8, 2003, with the Purple Eagles edging the Warriors, 4-3. They met again two weeks ago, a 3-2 win for Niagara.
Including Saturday's triumph, the Warriors own a 17-9-28 record (.574) in 54 regular-season contests that have reached sudden-death overtime. WSU has just one loss in its last 15 overtime games - a 4-3 result in last year's CHA tournament quarterfinal against eventual champion Alabama-Huntsville.
After being the first team to score in just three of their first 23 games, the Warriors have opened the scoring in each of the last three games. They are 5-1-0 when they light the lamp first.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following next week's series with Robert Morris at the Coliseum, Wayne State travels to Alabama-Huntsville and, after a weekend off, returns to Bemidji. The Warriors will play their final home series March 7-8 against Niagara.