March 8, 2005

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2004-05 - CHA TOURNAMENT

WAYNE STATE HOCKEY (14-16-4, 7-9-4 CHA)
vs. Air Force (13-18-3, 5-14-1 CHA)
Friday, March 11 - Grand Rapids, Minn.

MATCH-UP AT A GLANCE:

Arena - IRA Civic Center (4,000)
Surface - 200' x 85'
Face-off - 8:35 p.m. Eastern
Series Record - Wayne State leads 12-7-3

CHA TOURNAMENT

The Wayne State University men's hockey team concluded the 2004-05 regular season the same way it began, with a home split. The Warriors compiled a 14-16-4 mark which included 10 weekend splits in 17 series.

With just one senior on the roster, the young, but talented Wayne State squad defeated every CHA team but also lost at least once to every league foe in compiling a 7-9-4 conference mark for 18 points, doubling the nine points accumulated by the 2003-04 squad.

WSU will be skating against Air Force in the College Hockey America tournament for the third time in the last four years this Friday in the second CHA quarterfinal (8:35 p.m. Eastern). The first semifinal features third-seeded Niagara taking on sixth-seeded Robert Morris at 4:35 p.m. Eastern.

No. 2 seed Alabama-Huntsville will play the NU-RMU winner at 4:35 p.m. on Saturday, with the Wayne State-Air Force victor squaring off against league champion Bemidji State Saturday evening.

The 2005 CHA Championship game will be televised live by CSTV starting at 8 p.m. Eastern on Sunday. The CHA playoff champion receives an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. Wayne State was the initial automatic qualifier in 2003, while Niagara advanced in 2004 with wins over Wayne State (2-1) and Bemidji State (4-3 OT).

THE COACHES

Wayne State's Bill Wilkinson is 25th in NCAA history with 408 career wins. He is in his sixth season at WSU and 23rd season overall.

Frank Serratore is in his 12th season as a collegiate head coach and eighth at the United States Air Force Academy.

THE SERIES

Wayne State leads 12-7-3 in the all-time series after splitting in Colorado (1-2, 3-2) and recording a win (5-1) and a tie (3-3 OT) in Detroit. The squads have met twice before in the CHA playoffs with WSU winning both times. The Warriors won 3-1 on March 15, 2002, in a semifinal contest, and 4-2 on March 14, 2003, in a quarterfinal match.

IN THE POLLS

Both teams finished exactly where the CHA coaches had predicted. The only change from the CHA preseason poll was Alabama-Huntsville finished second ahead of Niagara.

SCOUTING AIR FORCE

The Falcons are 0-5-1 in their last six contests with the tie coming at Wayne State on Feb. 27.

Sophomore forwards Brandon Merkosky (13-17--30) and Andrew Ramsey (9-14--23) are 1-2 on the team in scoring. Merkosky has a team-high nine power-play goals.

Sophomore Peter Foster has an 11-14-3 record with a 2.62 goals-against average in 28 appearances. He has a .901 save percentage with five shutouts.

USAFA's power play has scored 31 times in 208 chances (14.9%), while allowing 33 goals in 188 opponent man-advantage opportunities (82.4%).

ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE RECAP

Wayne State concluded the regular season with a split against CHA runner-up Alabama-Huntsville.

The Warriors recorded their first shutout since March 7, 2003, with a 4-0 whitewash of the University of Alabama-Huntsville last Saturday afternoon.

Both schools had 33 shots on goal, but the WSU special teams were the difference as the Warriors scored two power-play goals and added an empty-net short-handed goal in the final minute.

John May opened the scoring 3:02 into the contest as he banged in a rebound of a Dan Iliakis shot. The next 27 minutes were scoreless until Tylor Michel redirected Adam Krug's centering pass behind UAH goalie Scott Munroe at the 10:38 mark of the second period.

The score remained 2-0 until the mid-point of the third period when Stavros Paskaris scored a five-on-three power-play goal as both Todd Bentley (major for contact to the head-elbowing) and Bruce Mulherin (unsportsmanlike conduct) were in the penalty box. Paskaris' 11th of the season came at the 11:26 mark and was assisted by Mark Bradshaw.

Nate Higgins completed the scoring with a short-handed empty-net goal at the 19:04 mark off an assist from Krug.

Warrior goalie Matt Kelly earned his first shutout since Dec. 28, 2002, when he made 36 saves in a 7-0 victory over Princeton at the Rensselaer Holiday Classic. Munroe was credited with 29 saves in the UAH cage. Wayne State went two-for-nine with the power-play, while the Chargers were zero-for-four.

Wayne State closed out the regular season with a 6-5 setback to league runner-up Alabama-Huntsville Sunday afternoon.

The Warriors started strong, scoring three times in the opening period. Tylor Michel put in a rebound of a Dan Iliakis blueline blast at the 5:09 mark during a Wayne State power play. WSU increased its lead at the 10:59 mark when Nate Higgins ripped a shot from the top of the circle past UAH starting goalie Scott Munroe. Michel and Adam Krug assisted on Higgins' 10th of the campaign.

Jason Bloomingburg set the WSU single-season goal record (#19) as he redirected a shot from the right point by Matt Boldt.

The middle stanza was all Huntsville as the Chargers scored five times on 20 shots. Doug Watkins scored his first of the year with a blueline shot at the 2:24 mark. Jeremy Schreiber's power-play goal came 2:56 into the second period. Dominik Rozman tied the game at the 13:21 mark and David Nimmo's wrap-around goal gave UAH a 4-3 lead with 4:58 left in the middle frame. Steve Canter scored at the 17:02 mark.

Bloomingburg scored from the slot on a nice feed from Michel at the 6:50 mark. Wayne State tied the game at five with 6:50 left in the third period as Stavros Paskaris made a nice play in the neutral zone setting up a two-on-one for the Warriors. Jason Baclig made a nifty pass across the crease to Iliakis, who drilled in his second lamp-lighter of the season.

UAH's Jared Ross scored the game-winner 22 seconds later on a rush from his defensive blueline.

WSU goalie Will Hooper made 34 saves in the contest. Munroe stopped 10 of 13 in the opening 20 minutes before being relieved by Marc Narduzzi, who earned the win by turning aside 22 of WSU's final 24 shots. Each team scored one power-play goal in the match (four chances for UAH and seven for WSU).