Jan. 3, 2006

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GAME STORYLINES

The Wayne State University men's hockey team (4-10-2, 1-4-1 CHA), winner of four of its last six contests, hits the road again this weekend for a two-game non-league series at Michigan State (8-8-5, 4-5-4 CCHA).

WSU skated against the Spartans earlier this season in the opener for both squads. The Warriors took a 1-0 lead as Jason Baclig scored in a school-record nine seconds after the opening face-off. MSU tallied the final five goals for the win.

The Warriors placed third in the 2005 Badger Showdown last weekend in Madison, Wis., following a 19-day lay-off for exams and the holidays. Wayne State suffered a 6-2 setback to Northern Michigan the first day, but rebounded for a 6-3 triumph over Western Michigan in the third-place contest.

BEHIND THE BENCH

Bill Wilkinson is in his seventh season as Wayne State's head coach and his 24th year as a collegiate head coach. Wilkinson's overall record stands at 412-410-73, while his mark at WSU is 99-109-20.

Michigan State's Rick Comley has a career mark of 671-531-84 in 33 seasons. He won an NCAA title at Northern Michigan in 1991. In his fourth year with the Spartans, Comley also served as head coach at Lake Superior and NMU.

THROUGHOUT THE YEARS

Wayne State trails the all-time series 1-2-0 against Michigan State following the 5-1 Spartan win on Oct. 8.

Wayne State split a series (Nov. 20-21, 2003) at Michigan State winning 3-2 (OT) the first night on a goal by John Grubb. MSU won 7-2 the next evening.

IN THE POLLS

Wayne State was tabbed for third in College Hockey America. Michigan State was voted fourth in both the CCHA Coaches and Media Preseason polls.

ON THIS DATE

WSU is 0-1 all-time on Jan. 6 after a 4-2 loss vs. Alabama-Huntsville in 2001. The Warriors are 0-1 on Jan. 7 after a 3-2 loss at Alabama-Huntsville in 2005.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE

The Spartans placed third in the Great Lakes Invitational with a 3-2 overtime win over Michigan Tech and a 6-3 loss to Colorado College.

Sophomore forward Bryan Lerg leads the team in goals (8), assists (15) and points (23). Five of Drew Miller's six goals have come on the power play.

Junior Dominic Vicari (7-6-2, 2.67, .895) has four shutouts in 15 starts, while freshman Jeff Lerg (1-2-3, 2.54, .904) has started the other six games.

Eight of MSU's 21 games have gone into overtime.

NOTES

Nate Higgins was named to the Badger Showdown All-Tournament team after scoring a tournament-high three goals.

Higgins had his second two-goal game of the month on Saturday and has a current six-game point streak (6-4--10).

Steve Kovalchik had an assist each game to extend his assist and point streak to a career-best five games (1-7--8). His 51 career assists rank third all-time among Warrior blueliners. Keith Stanich (1999-03) is second with 52.

Derek Bachynski had his first two collegiate assists in Saturday's win over WMU, his 43rd career game.

Jason Baclig recorded the game-winning assist on Saturday and has five assists in the last five games. His nine career game-winning assists rank fourth all-time at WSU.

Derek Punches had two assists on Saturday and has three assists in the last four games. He did not record an assist in his first 12 collegiate games.

Matt Krug's first collegiate goal was the game-winner on Saturday. He was also +3 in the contest. He has a point in five of his last six games.

Jason Bloomingburg had a power-play goal on Friday and the game's first goal on Saturday to extend his goal-scoring streak to five games. The school record for consecutive games with a goal is six, set by Chris Vail (Feb. 1-Feb. 16, 2002) and equaled by Dustin Kingston (Jan. 5-Jan. 25, 2003).

Adam Krug had an assist on Friday plus an empty-net goal and an assist on Saturday giving him four points (1-3) in the last three games. His current three-game assist streak is a career best.

Dan Iliakis had an assist each game for a career-best three-game assist streak.

After scoring 15 goals in the first 10 games (Oct.-Nov.), WSU scored 27 goals in the six December contests.

WSU penalty killing units went 9-for-10 (90%) at the Badger Showdown.

Saturday's three-goal victory was Wayne State's first non one-goal win of the season.

Bill Wilkinson has 99 career wins at WSU and 412 for his career.