Nov. 12, 2004

Moon Twp., Pa. - The Wayne State University men's hockey team improved to 6-3-0 overall with a 3-2 triumph at College Hockey America newcomer Robert Morris University (2-6-0, 0-3-0 CA) Friday night.

The win was career victory No. 400 for Warrior head coach Bill Wilkinson, who becomes just the 23rd collegiate hockey coach to reach the 400-win plateau.

WSU also begins league play on the plus side.

The first 20 minutes was even on the scoreboard with each team scoring once, but the Warriors had a 14-3 advantage in shots on goal.

The hosts grabbed a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Chris Kaufman at the 14:28 mark.

Wayne State tied the game with just 17 seconds remaining in the opening stanza as junior wing John May (Livonia, Mich./Springfield Junior Blues) netted his fourth of the campaign off assists from freshman defenseman Mark Bradshaw (Stony Plain, Alb./Humboldt Broncos) rookie center Stavros Paskaris (Dearborn, Mich./Kewadin Indians).

Wayne State took control by scoring the next two goals and keeping the Colonials off the board until the final minute when RMU scored a five-on-four goal with the goalie pulled for an extra skater.

In the middle period, both teams had 13 shots on goal but the Warriors were the only squad able to turn on the red light. Paskaris scored a power-play goal at the 2:02 mark. His fifth of the campaign was assisted by sophomore wing Mark Nebus (South Lyon, Mich./Texas Tornado) and May. Nebus has already equaled last season's point total of eight, just nine games into the year.

Freshman Adam Krug (Livonia, Mich./Sioux City Musketeers) scored the eventual game-winner 5:54 into the third period. Krug's first collegiate game-winning goal was assisted by classmate Tylor Michel (Sudbury, Ont./Owen Sound Greys) and sophomore wing Jason Bloomingburg (Canton, Mich./Texas Tornado).

Kurt Wright's goal with five seconds remaining in the contest completed the scoring.

WSU junior goaltender Matt Kelly (Hull, Mass./Topeka Scarecrows) made 26 saves, while RMU netminder Christian Boucher was credited with 36 stops as Wayne State held a 39-28 advantage in shots on goal.

In a game that featured just 11 penalties (all minors), the Warriors were one-for-two with the man-advantage while RMU went one-for-five.

The teams wrap-up the conference series with a 7:35 p.m. Eastern face-off on Saturday at the Island Sports Center in Pittsburgh.