March 3, 2004

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2003-04 - Games 33 & 34

WSU MEN'S HOCKEY (8-21-3, 4-13-1 CHA)
vs. Air Force (12-20-2, 4-13-1 CHA)
Friday-Saturday, March 5-6 - Plymouth, Mich.

MATCH-UP AT A GLANCE:

Arena Compuware Sports Arena (4,000)
Surface 200' x 85'
Face-off 7:05 p.m./3:05 p.m. Eastern
Site Plymouth, Mich.
Series Record Wayne State leads 10-4-2

THE GAMES

The Wayne State University men's hockey team wraps-up the regular season at home versus the U.S. Air Force Academy this Friday and Saturday with the second contest being designated "Senior Day." The Warriors are 1-9-1 at home this season, but 4-2-0 in Michigan all-time against the Falcons.

Last weekend, Wayne State recorded its first road sweep in more than a year with 4-2 and 4-1 wins at Alabama-Huntsville to move into a tie for fifth place with Air Force. Sophomore goalie Matt Kelly earned College Hockey America Defensive Player of the Week honors after stopping 80 shots in the two victories.

The Warriors need at least a win and tie this weekend against the USAFA to secure fifth place.

The CHA quarterfinals will take place on Friday, March 12 at the Tri-City Arena in Kearney, Neb., followed by the CHA semifinals on March 13 and the CHA Championship game on March 14.

THE COACHES

WSU head coach Bill Wilkinson is in his fifth season as the Warrior bench boss. He has a 80-79-14 record at WSU with an overall collegiate head coaching mark of 393-380-67 in his 22nd season.

Frank Serratore has compiled a 103-133-15 record in his seventh year with the Falcons. His 11-year overall coaching mark stands at 152-224-24.

THE SERIES

Wayne State leads 10-4-2 in the all-time series with a 4-2-0 mark at home. The teams split an earlier series in Colorado (USAFA 5-2, WSU 3-2) on Jan. 8-10. The Warrior loss on Jan. 8 snapped a six-game (5-0-1) unbeaten streak in the series.

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 in the conference by the CHA coaches.

SCOUTING AIR FORCE

The Falcons have lost four straight and were outscored 25-7 in that span.

Senior forwards Spanky Leonard (11-15--26) and Shane Saum (11-10--21) are tied for the team lead in goals. Junior defenseman Steve Mead has a team-best 16 assists. Senior Mike Polidor (7-14-2, 3.39, .881) has started 24 games, while freshman Peter Foster (5-6-0, 3.22, .898) has started 10 games.

AF's power play has scored 22 times in 210 opportunities (10.5%), while the penalty-killing units have stopped 144 of 174 (82.8%) opponent chances.

ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE RECAP

Wayne State ended its eight-game (0-7-1) league winless streak with a 4-2 triumph at Alabama-Huntsville last Saturday afternoon.

Nate Higgins recorded his first collegiate first goal just 53 seconds into the contest off assists from Chris Vail and Ryan Wright. Higgins' eighth goal of the year marked just the sixth time in 31 games the Warriors had scored first.

The Chargers tied the game at the 11:30 mark on a goal by Todd Bentley. WSU regained the lead with 1:32 left in the opening period on Vail's fourth of the season off an assist from Wright.

Billy Collins gave the Warriors a 3-1 advantage at the 7:44 mark of the middle stanza when he scored WSU's first short-handed goal of the season off assists from Steve Kovalchik and Vail. Just 62 seconds later, UAH's Craig Bushey scored a power-play goal to pull the hosts within one at 3-2. Mark Nebus added a short-handed goal with 6:04 remaining in the contest off an assist from Higgins.

Warrior sophomore goalie Matt Kelly made 32 saves including 15 in the opening period. Scott Munroe turned aside 18 Wayne State shots in the UAH cage. WSU went zero-for-five on the power play, while the Chargers scored once in nine man-advantage opportunities.

The Warriors completed their first road sweep in a weekend series since Feb. 8-9, 2002 (5-2 and 3-1 at Niagara) with a 4-1 victory at Alabama-Huntsville Sunday afternoon.

Referee Dan O'Neill earned his pay by calling 40 penalties for 187 minutes in the contest. Wayne State went one-for-four on the power play, while stopping all seven Charger man-advantage opportunities. It marks the second time in the last 11 games WSU did not allow a power-play goal.

The Warriors, despite being outshot 12-8, led 1-0 after 20 minutes on a goal by Jason Baclig. Baclig's team-leading 10th goal of the campaign was assisted by Nate Higgins and came on the first power play of the game.

In the middle stanza, UAH had a 17-15 advantage in shots on goal, but WSU won the battle on the scoreboard, 2-1. Twenty seconds after a squirmish put three players in the penalty box for each team, John Grubb scored the game-winning goal, his team-leading second of the year, off assists from Baclig and Greg Poupard.

The Chargers cut the deficit to one at the 13:22 mark when Jeremy Schreiber scored his eighth goal of the season. Wayne State regained the two-goal advantage at the 17:58 mark when Poupard netted his third of the season off assists from Mark Nebus and Steve Kovalchik.

UAH won the shots on goal battle in the third period, 20-4, but Wayne State scored the only goal as Travis Rycroft lit the lamp for the fourth time this year. Rycroft's second goal in the last six games came just 18 seconds into the third period. Baclig earned his third point of the night with the lone assist.

WSU sophomore netminder Matt Kelly equaled the team and his season-high with 48 saves (also had 48 stops on Dec. 6 in a 5-2 loss at Bemidji State). Adam MacLean had 23 saves for UAH.