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 Travis Rycroft scored a goal in his final home game at WSU. |
March 6, 2004
Plymouth, Mich. - The Wayne State University men's hockey squad (8-23-3, 4-15-1 CHA) closed out its regular season with a 3-1 setback to visiting Air Force (14-20-2, 6-13-1 CHA) at the Compuware Sports Arena on Saturday afternoon.
During pre-game ceremonies, the six seniors (Marc Carlson, Aaron Hundt, Matt Milanowski, Travis Rycroft, Nick Stodgell and Chris Vail) were honored for their service to the program.
In an even first period that saw each team record nine shots on goal, the Falcons scored the lone goal as Tom Starkey scored at the 6:46 mark.
Air Force tallied the lone marker of the middle stanza at the 9:36 mark when Andrew Ramsey came in on his off wing and went high to the short side beating Warrior goalie Marc Carlson (Hingham, Mass./Chicago Freeze).
The Falcons went ahead 3-0 just 82 seconds into the third period. Following a WSU turnover behind its own net, Seth Pelletier sent a pass out to Ross Miller, whose shot beat Carlson.
The Warriors wouldn't quit and were rewarded when Travis Rycroft (Penticton, B.C./Merritt Centennials) banged in the rebound of a Billy Collins (Enderby, B.C./Prince George Spruce Kings) shot. Dan Iliakis (Scarborough, Ont./Georgetown Raiders) started the scoring play by passing down low to Collins.
Carlson finished with 28 saves, while AF netminder Peter Foster made 26 saves. WSU went zero-for-seven on the power play and blanked Air Force on its eight man-advantage opportunities.
The sixth-seeded Warriors will play in Friday's second quarterfinal game at 8:05 p.m. (EST) versus the third-seeded Alabama-Huntsville Chargers. Findlay (No. 4 seed) will skate against Air Force (No. 5 seed) at 4:05 p.m. (EST). The five-game CHA tournament will be played at the Tri-City Arena in Kearney, Neb.
