March 25, 2003

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2002-03 - GAME 40 ~ NCAA TOURNAMENT REGIONAL

WAYNE STATE MEN'S HOCKEY (21-16-2, 11-7-2 CHA)
vs. #2-Colorado College (29-6-5, 19-4-5 WCHA)
Saturday, March 29 - Ann Arbor, Mich.

MATCH-UP AT A GLANCE:

Arena -- Yost Ice Arena (6,637)
Surface -- 200' x 85'
Face-off -- 12:00 p.m. EST
Site -- Ann Arbor, Michigan
Series Record -- First Meeting
Television -- Fox Sports Net Detroit

THE GAME

The Wayne State University men's hockey team will be the No. 4 seed at the Midwest Regional in Ann Arbor. The Warriors will face Colorado College (No. 1 seed) this Saturday at noon in Michigan's Yost Ice Arena. The 3:30 p.m. matchup features Michigan (No. 3 seed) skating against Maine (No. 2 seed). The regional semifinal winners face-off at 3 p.m. on Sunday for a trip to the Frozen Four (April 10-12 at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York).

The Warriors have never faced the Tigers, who were the No. 2 national seed according to the selection committee. WSU is one of three teams making its inaugural appearance in the NCAA tournament (Ferris State and Minnesota State-Mankato) are also first time participants.

INTERVIEW POLICIES

Media representatives should contact the Sports Information Office for all player and coach interviews. Players and coaches may be interviewed prior to or directly after practice during the season, but requests must be made through the Sports Information Office ahead of time.

THE COACHES

WSU head coach Bill Wilkinson, a 1970 graduate of St. Lawrence, has a 72-57-11 mark in his fourth season as the Warriors bench boss. His overall varsity collegiate record stands at 385-358-64 in his 21st season. His 385 victories rank him tied-for-26th on the NCAA all-time win list with Ned Harkness, and two wins from tying Amo Bessone for 25th place. Wilkinson has an 0-4 record in NCAA tournament games, all while at Western Michigan.

Scott Owens is in his fourth season at the helm of the Colorado College program. A 1979 graduate of CC, Owens has compiled a 101-50-12 record with the Tigers.

THE SERIES

Wayne State has never played any of the other teams in the NCAA Midwest Regional.

IN THE POLLS

Wayne State received all five possible first-place votes in the College Hockey America Coaches Preseason poll. WSU received one vote in the USCHO.com poll of March 17. Colorado College is second nationally this week.

SCOUTING COLORADO COLLEGE

The Tigers had their five-game winning streak snapped with a 4-2 loss to Minnesota in Saturday's WCHA Championship game. Five of CC's six losses this season were to NCAA tournament teams.

Junior left wing Peter Sejna, a Hobey Baker finalist, leads the Tigers and the nation in goals (35), points (79) and game-winning goals (8). Senior forward Noah Clarke has a team-best 46 assists. Senior blueliner Tom Preissing leads the squad with 16 power-play goals.

Sophomore Curtis McElhinney (24-5-5, 2.34, .907) has started 34 of CC's 40 games. Freshman Kjell Bennemark (3-1-0, 2.57, .879) has four starts.

The Tiger power play has converted 67 times in 222 opportunities (30.2% - nation's best), while stopping 173 of their opponents 208 chances (83.2%).

SCOUTING MAINE

The Black Bears have been idle since being swept by Massachusetts (5-3, 4-2) in a Hockey East quarterfinal series on March 6-7.

Senior forward Martin Kariya leads Maine in assists (35), points (49) and power-play goals (7), while classmate Lucas Lawson has a team-best 21 goals and six game-winning goals.

Freshman Jim Howard (14-6-0, 2.45, .916) and junior Frank Doyle (10-3-5, 2.14, .915) have each played over 1,120 minutes.

The Black Bear power play has scored 41 times in 183 chances (22.4%), while stopping 131 of their opponents 154 opportunities (85.1%).

SCOUTING MICHIGAN

The Wolverines have won four straight and are unbeaten in the last seven games (5-0-2).

Freshman forward Jeff Tambellini leads Michigan in goals (26) and points (43) and is tied with Eric Nystrom for team-high honors in power-play goals at six. Senior forward John Shouneyia has a team-best 28 assists. Sophomore Brandon Rogers is the top-scoring blueliner with 25 points on four goals and 21 assists.

Freshman Al Montoya (28-9-3, 2.34, .910) has started all 40 games. Freshman Noah Ruden (0-0-0, 1.07, .957) has played nearly 56 minutes.

The Wolverine power play has scored 47 times in 212 opportunities (22.2%), while stopping 177 of their opponents 198 chances (89.4% - 2nd best in NCAA).

CHA TOURNAMENT RECAP

Wayne State became just the ninth school in college hockey history to win at least three consecutive league tournament titles. The Warriors took the long route having to win three games in three days to three-peat.

WSU defeated Air Force, 4-2, in a CHA quarterfinal contest on March 14.

Wayne State's Jason Durbin scored 51 seconds into the middle stanza for a 1-0 lead. WSU increased its lead when Derek MacKay added a power-play goal at the 4:30 mark. The Falcons' Andy Berg netted a goal with 4:46 left in the period, but Dustin Kingston scored a man-advantage marker with 27 seconds remaining in the second period to restore the two-goal lead.

MacKay lit the lamp for the second time in the game just 21 seconds into the third period. USAFA's Justin Hamilton scored a power-play goal with 64 seconds left in the game to complete the scoring.

David Guerrera made 27 saves in the Warrior cage, while David Goodley stopped 25 shots for the Falcons. WSU went two-for-six on the power play, while limiting Air Force to one goal in eight opportunities.

In the March 15 semifinal contest versus Niagara, WSU again scored first as Marc St. Jean scored a five-on-three power-play goal at the 6:41 mark.

The Purple Eagles responded with three power-play goals in the middle stanza.

The Warriors rallied with five third period goals for the 6-4 triumph. Kingston tallied a man-advantage marker at the 5:09 mark, while St. Jean scored his second of the game at the 9:37 mark to knot the score at three.

NU regained the lead on a Justin Cross goal with 7:27 left in the third period, but WSU scored the last three goals. Jon Brink tied the game with 4:33 remaining. Kingston scored his second consecutive game-winner of the weekend with 49 seconds left in regulation. Durbin concluded the scoring with an empty-net marker in the final 30 seconds.

Guerrera made 25 saves for Wayne State, while Rob Bonk turned aside 35 Warrior shots in the Niagara net. Jeff VanNynatten played 29 seconds in the middle stanza during one of the Purple Eagles two five-on-three chances.

For the third time in the four-year history of the CHA tournament, the championship game was decided by a single goal.

Bemidji State opened the scoring at the 6:29 mark on a goal by Myles Kuharski. Wayne State tied the game on Brink's seventh of the campaign just 2:12 later.

The Beavers regained a one-goal advantage with 8:43 left in the opening period on Jeff McGill's rebound goal.

For the final 48 minutes, Warrior netminder David Guerrera stopped everything including a John Haider breakaway in the second period during a WSU power play.

Wayne State tied the game at two on St. Jean's power-play goal just past the halfway point of the second period. Maxim Starchenko scored the game-winning goal with 4:11 remaining in the middle stanza.

Guerrera stopped all seven Beaver shots in the third period and finished the game with 16 saves. Grady Hunt, the first team All-CHA goaltender, who had stopped 61 of 62 shots in the first two BSU games of the tournament, made 12 saves on WSU's 15 shots in the title game.

Wayne State was well represented on the CHA All-Tournament team. Marc St. Jean was an all-tournament defenseman as well as the Most Valuable Player. Goalie David Guerrera was joined by forwards Jason Durbin and Dustin Kingston. Also named to the team were Bemidji State forward Andrew Murray, BSU blueliner Bryce Methven and Niagara forward Barret Ehgoetz.