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 Tylor Michel had three assists in WSU's 5-2 win on Saturday. |
Nov. 17, 2007
DETROIT, Mich. - Earning its first conference win of the season, the Wayne State men's hockey team (2-7-1, 1-3-0 CHA) defeated College Hockey America foe Bemidji State (5-6-1, 3-2-1 CHA), 5-2, on Saturday night at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum.
Jon Grabarek (Sterling Hts., Mich./Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) scored two goals for the Warriors, while Mike Forgie (Scarborough, Ont./Stouffville Spirit) and Tylor Michel (Sudbury, Ont./Owen Sound Saugeen Greys) totaled three assists apiece. WSU goaltender Brett Bothwell (Red Deer, Alb./Yorkton Terriers) made 29 saves for his first win of the season.
Bemidji State struck just 3:44 into the contest on a power-play goal from Matt Read. Cody Bostock sent a cross ice pass to Brandon Marino, who found Read open on the post to the right of Bothwell for the one-timer, giving BSU a 1-0 lead.
Good puck movement by the Warriors' power-play unit led to Grabarek's first goal of the night at the 10:27 mark. Forgie and Jeff Caister (Mississauga, Ont./Milton Icehawks) assisted on a play that eventually found Grabarek open in the right circle for a hard wrist shot.
Grabarek found the back of the net again at 16:44, taking a backhand feed from behind the net by Michel and burying a shot over the glove of BSU goaltender Matt Climie, who had 16 saves in the game, half of which came in the second period.
It was in the middle stanza, however, that Matt Krug (Livonia, Mich./Texas Tornado) scored the game-winning goal on another WSU power-play. The junior defenseman blasted a slap shot from just inside the blue line that found the top corner of the net. Forgie and Michel assisted on the tally at the 3:39 mark, putting the Warriors ahead by three.
Joey Moggach made it a 3-2 game at 15:24 with a power-play marker from Tyler Scofield and Matt Pope on a setup and one-timer much like Read's goal.
Jared Katz (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Baystate Breakers) gave the Warriors some breathing room as he redirected a shot from Derek Punches (Manchester, Mich./Texas Tornado) into the net to make it a 4-2 contest at 18:07. Stavros Paskaris (Dearborn, Mich./Kewadin Indians) also notched an assist, his first of two on the night.
With 2:27 remaining, the Beavers pulled Climie for an extra attacker, but could not narrow the score. Punches added an empty-net goal to seal the win from Michel and Paskaris with 23 seconds left.
Shots on goal favored BSU, 31-21, while both squads had a pair of power-play goals.
Wayne State travels to St. Lawrence next weekend, Nov. 23-24, before playing a home-and-home series with Bowling Green State (Nov. 30-Dec. 1), the first game of which will be held at the Coliseum with a 7:05 p.m. faceoff.
