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 Nate Higgins totaled four points in Friday's 5-2 win at RMU. |
March 2, 2007
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Wayne State men's hockey team (11-20-2, 7-10-2 CHA) extended its unbeaten streak to six games with a 5-2 win at Robert Morris (13-17-2, 9-9-1 CHA) on Friday night.
Nate Higgins (Calgary, Alb./Green Bay Gamblers) had a four-point night (two goals, two assists), and Jon Grabarek (Sterling Hts., Mich./Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) netted the game-winning power-play goal in the third period.
Ten different Warriors made their mark on the scoresheet, as Wayne State won its third straight against Robert Morris this season and now leads the all-time series, 6-2-3.
The teams were at a 0-0 stalemate through a fast-paced first period in which Wayne State edged Robert Morris, 15-14, in shots on goal and both squads killed two penalties.
Wayne State broke the tie at 4:44 of the middle stanza, as Dan Iliakis (Scarborough, Ont./Georgetown Raiders) sent a pass ahead for Derek Bachynski (Belle River, Ont./Leamington Flyers), whose shot rebounded off the pads of RMU netminder Christian Boucher. Tylor Michel (Sudbury, Ont./Owen Sound Greys) followed in to finish the play with his seventh goal of the season.
Robert Morris evened the score at one apiece when Tom Biondich knocked an airborne puck into the net to the left of WSU goaltender Will Hooper (Woodbridge, Ont./Wexford Raiders) at 17:27. Jason Towsley and Dave Cowan were credited with assists.
Just 23 seconds later, however, Grabarek created a turnover in the RMU zone and fed a pass to Higgins, who fired a hard wrist shot from the right circle to record his 11th goal of the season and regain WSU's one-goal advantage.
On a five-on-three power-play in the third period, Grabarek, positioned on the far post to Boucher's left, put in a one-timer off a centering pass from Jared Katz (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Baystate Breakers). Higgins also earned a helper on the goal, which put Wayne State ahead by two at the 4:15 mark.
Grabarek nearly scored again with 15 minutes remaining on another Wayne State two-man advantage, rattling a shot off the post from just inside the blue line.
Ryan Bernardi (Etobicoke, Ont./Milton Icehawks) gave the Warriors a 4-1 lead with a wide-open slap shot from between the circles after taking a pass from Higgins who was down low to the right of Boucher.
Robert Morris narrowed the deficit to two goals as Chris Margott's wrist shot from just outside the circles sailed into the net over the left shoulder of Hooper at 17:57, but Higgins sealed the win with an empty-net goal 22 seconds later.
Hooper, unbeaten in his last four starts, made 30 saves for his fourth win of the season. Boucher totaled 35 saves in his 12th loss.
Wayne State and Robert Morris will close out the regular season tomorrow (March 3) at 7:35 p.m.
