Jan. 6, 2004

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2003-04 - Games 19 & 20

WSU MEN'S HOCKEY (5-11-2, 1-5-0 CHA)
at Air Force (7-11-2, 1-6-1 CHA)
Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 8-10 * Colorado Springs, Colo.

MATCH-UP AT A GLANCE:

Arena -- Cadet Ice Arena (2,502)
Surface -- 200' x 85'
Face-off -- 9:05 p.m. Eastern
Site -- Colorado Springs, Colorado
Series Record -- Wayne State leads 9-3-2

THE GAMES

The Wayne State University men's hockey team concludes its school-record 12-game road trip with a two-game College Hockey America series at Air Force this Thursday and Saturday.

Last weekend, the Warriors dropped a pair of contests: 7-1 at #4-Colorado College, and 4-2 at #6-Denver.

WSU's last four games have been against nationally ranked opponents and six of the 10 games on the current road trip have been against ranked schools with the Warriors compiling a 3-7-0 mark since the road trip began on November 20.

After this weekend's set at Air Force, the Warriors return home to the Compuware Sports Arena in Plymouth to face College Hockey America rival Alabama-Huntsville on January 17-18. It will be WSU's first home game since November 16. Following the January 18 game, Wayne State will host the popular "Skate with the Warriors."

THE COACHES

WSU head coach Bill Wilkinson is in his fifth season as the Warrior bench boss. He has a 77-69-13 record at WSU with an overall collegiate head coaching mark of 390-370-66 in his 22nd season.

Frank Serratore, a 1982 graduate of Bemidji State, has a 98-124-15 mark in his seventh year with the Academy. His overall mark in his 11th season stands at 147-215-24.

THE SERIES

Wayne State is 5-0-1 in the last six meetings since a 5-3 setback on January 12, 2002. The Warriors are 3-1-2 in Colorado against the Falcons.

IN THE POLLS

The Warriors were selected fourth in the College Hockey America (CHA) preseason coaches poll after finishing tied-for-third in 2002-03. Air Force was picked sixth by the CHA coaches.

SCOUTING AIR FORCE

The Falcons are 0-3-1 and have been outscored 11-4 in the last four games.

Senior forward Spanky Leonard (6-10--16) leads the team in assists and points while classmate Shaun Saum and sophomore Matt Bader are tied for team-high honors in goals at seven. Senior Mike Polidor (6-10-2, 2.82, .896) has started 18 of the 20 games between the pipes.

AF's power play has scored 13 times in 116 opportunities (11.2%), while the penalty killing units have stopped 86 of 101 (85.1%) opponent chances.

COLORADO COLLEGE RECAP

Wayne State lost at fourth-ranked Colorado College by a 7-1 score o Jan. 2.

The host Tigers scored a power-play goal just 2:58 into the contest when Trevor Frischmon beat WSU netminder Marc Carlson for his fourth of the season.

Colin Stuart scored the eventual game-winner just 52 seconds later.

Wayne State would make it a 2-1 game late in the first period when freshman Ryan Wright scored his second of the campaign off assists from senior defenseman Nick Stodgell and freshman Nick Krebsbach.

It was Wright's first goal since Nov. 14, Stodgell's first assist since Nov. 20, and Krebsbach's first career point.

The second period was scoreless until the final minute when Joey Crabb gave CC a 3-1 lead with 41 seconds remaining in the stanza.

The Tigers scored four times in the third period with Aaron Slattengren scoring at 0:22 and 3:22.

Carlson finished with 29 saves, while CC goalie Curtis McElhinney made 14 saves in 50:51. Chris Kawano stopped both shots he faced in 9:09 of action. Wayne State went zero-for-three with the man-advantage, while the Tigers scored once in three power-play chances.

DENVER RECAP

The Warriors gave sixth-ranked Denver all it could handle but allowed two third period goals in a 4-2 setback on Jan. 3.

Wayne State tallied the only goal of the opening period when freshman Mark Nebus scored his second of the season off an assist from John May with just 39 seconds remaining in the stanza. It was the fourth time in 18 games Wayne State had scored first (WSU is now 3-1-0 when scoring first).

The host Pioneers tied the contest 3:21 into the middle period when junior Luke Fulghum netted his ninth of the year.

Wayne State regained the lead just past the halfway mark of the second period (10:58) when freshman Jason Baclig scored his team-leading seventh goal of the campaign. Classmates Nicholas Staneckyj and Nate Higgins assisted on Baclig's second power-play goal of the season. It was Higggins' team-leading eighth assist and Staneckyj has three assists in five games played this year.

Denver tied the game once again at the 13:12 mark as Brett Skinner scored a power-play goal just 11 seconds after a slashing penalty to Ryan Wright.

The sixth-ranked Pioneers took their first lead of the night 4:58 into the third period on a goal by Jon Foster. Ryan Caldwell, who had two assists earlier in the game, added an empty-net goal with five seconds remaining to complete the scoring.

WSU sophomore netminder Matt Kelly stopped 30 shots including double-digit totals in the first (11) and third periods (10). DU's Glenn Fisher was credited with 14 saves. The Warriors went one-for-three with the man-advantage, while allowing Denver only one power-play goal in six opportunities.