Feb. 28, 2006

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GAME STORYLINES

The Wayne State University men's hockey team (6-20-6, 3-10-5 CHA) will entertain the U.S. Air Force Academy (9-19-1, 6-12-0 CHA) this weekend in the final regular-season series for both squads.

The Warriors were swept at Alabama-Huntsville (2-1, 6-1) last weekend, while the Falcons lost twice at home (3-2 OT, 5-1) to Robert Morris.

WSU trails Air Force by one point for fifth place with the top three squads still battling for the conference title.

Wayne State will host the CHA men's and women's tournaments at the Fairgrounds Coliseum March 9-12.

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 414-420-77, while his mark at WSU is 101-119-24.

Frank Serratore has a 177-264-28 overall mark in his 13th season as a collegiate head coach, which includes four years at Denver. His mark at Air Force stands at 128-172-19.

THROUGHOUT THE YEARS

Wayne State leads the all-time series, 13-9-3, including a 5-4-1 mark in games played in Detroit.

The teams split a weekend series, Dec. 2-3 at Air Force, as WSU won 4-3 the first night before falling short, 7-6, the following evening.

IN THE POLLS

WSU was selected to finish third in College Hockey America, while Air Force was tabbed for sixth by the CHA coaches.

ON THIS DATE

WSU is 1-1-0 on March 3 after a 5-3 loss at St. Lawrence in 2000 and a 1-0 win over Niagara in 2001.

The Warriors are 1-0-0 on March 4 following a 3-1 win at Clarkson in the 1999-2000 regular-season finale.

SCOUTING AIR FORCE

The Falcons had a three-game winning streak snapped with last Friday's 3-2 overtime loss to visiting Robert Morris. Air Force is 4-3-0 in its last seven games.

Sophomore forward Eric Ehn leads the team in goals (12), assists (20) and points (32). Junior defenseman Brian Gineo is second on the squad with 20 points (6-14). Brian Reese has a team-best six power-play goals.

Junior Peter Foster (7-13-0, 3.16, .867) has started 19 games with one shutout, while sophomore Ian Harper (2-6-1, 3.89, .858) has started the other 10 contests.

Air Force has scored 31 power-play goals in 196 chances (15.8%), while stopping 141 of its opponents 182 opportunities (77.5%).

NOTES

Wayne State's power play went 0-for-16 at UAH last weekend and is 0-for-18 dating back to Feb. 18.

The Chargers scored five power-play goals on Friday, a season-high allowed by WSU. Six of UAH's eight goals on the weekend came with the man-advantage while another goal came three seconds after a Warrior penalty had expired.

Junior defenseman Adam Drescher recorded his first collegiate goal on Saturday in his 42nd career game. He has four career points with three coming in the last six games.

Junior forward Tylor Michel returned to the lineup this past weekend and assisted on WSU's lone goal on Friday. WSU was 2-8-4 without Michel in the lineup.

Adam Krug had his career-best three-game goal-scoring streak end on Saturday. He has 10 points on four goals and six assists in the last six contests.

John May assisted on both Warrior goals in Huntsville and has four points (1-3) in the last six games.

Wayne State finishes the road portion of its league schedule with a 1-6-3 despite being outscored only 47-35.

WSU has a chance to be .500 at home in league games as the Warriors enter the final weekend with a 2-4-2 mark. Wayne State has been outscored 26-20 in the eight previous home conference contests.

Wayne State is 5-5-2 when scoring first but 1-15-4 when the opposition takes a 1-0 lead.

The Warriors are 4-9-6 in games decided by two goals or less.

The eight overtime games (1-1-6) in a season is the second-most in school history. Wayne State played 11 overtime affairs during the 2000-01 campaign.

The six ties in a season is a school record (WSU had four overtime draws in both 2001-02 and 2004-05).

The Warriors have lost 52-man games to injury this year. Wayne State went 3-2-1 for the six games with no injuries.

In Will Hooper's 14 starts this year, WSU has scored 29 goals and more than two goals in only four starts.