Jan. 19, 2008

Stats

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - After building a 4-1 lead, the Wayne State men's hockey team (5-17-2, 1-7-0 CHA) surrendered five straight goals to Niagara (13-8-1, 7-4-1) en route to a 6-5 defeat Saturday afternoon in WSU's first-ever game at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

The two teams combined for their highest scoring output in the series since a 9-6 Wayne State win in its first-ever meeting with Niagara on Jan. 12, 2001.

Stavros Paskaris (Dearborn, Mich./Kewadin Indians) totaled a career-best four points including two goals, and Derek Bachynski (Belle River, Ont./Leamington Flyers) contributed three points for a Warrior squad that held a 4-3 advantage after two periods but could not hold off its league rival.

Niagara's Vince Rocco collected five points and Matt Caruana had four including the go-ahead goal that snapped a 4-4 tie in the third period.

Four minutes into the game, Tyler Ruel (Port Alberni, B.C./Alberni Valley Bulldogs) put WSU on the board with his third goal of the season, as he fired a wrist shot from the point on a nice feed from Tylor Michel (Sudbury, Ont./Owen Sound Saugeen Greys).

Kyle Rogers quickly tied it up at 4:53 with assists from Rocco and Armando Scarlato, who scored the game-winner on Friday. The Warriors regained the lead just 34 seconds later, however, when Punches scored his fourth of the year from Paskaris and Bachynski.

The two sides settled down for the remainder of the opening period, but Paskaris exploded in the second for two goals 2:17 apart to build a 4-1 lead for the Warriors.

A battle behind the net led to a loose puck in front for Paskaris, who put it away for his sixth of the season. He netted his second of the contest after collecting the puck in the neutral zone and skating in for a slap shot which glanced off the glove of Niagara starting goaltender Adam Avramenko, who was subsequently pulled for Juliano Pagliero.

The floodgates soon opened for the Purple Eagles, however, as they scored five straight to turn a three-goal deficit into a two-goal lead.

Rocco tallied his first of two straight goals at the 7:17 mark, following in a rebound off a wide shot from Caruana who took the puck on a cross-ice feed from Rogers. His second came on a one-timer off a feed from Caruana at 15:23, making it a 4-3 game.

A blast from just inside the blue line by Ryan Annesley tied it at four apiece 2:40 into the final stanza. Less than 90 seconds later Rocco fed a pass to Caruana, who was camped out to the left of WSU netminder Mike Devoney (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Bridgewater Bandits), for a quick shot and a 5-4 lead.

Niagara went ahead by a pair at 12:36 when Reaney knocked a loose puck out of the air in front of the goal and past Devoney.

A power-play goal by Bachynski with 1:44 remaining kept it cose, but WSU could not net the equalizer despite playing the final 52 seconds with an extra attacker.

Shots on goal favored the Warriors, 28-23, and both teams scored a pair of power-play markers. Pagliero registered 14 saves in relief for the win, while Devoney totaled 17 including nine in the final period.

Wayne State will host league foe Alabama-Huntsville next weekend (Jan. 25-26) at the Taylor SportsPlex. Faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.