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 Matt Krug scored the game-winner last Saturday against Bemidji State. |
Nov. 21, 2007
GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State men's hockey team (2-7-1, 1-3-0 CHA) hits the road this weekend to face 2007 ECAC Hockey regular season champion St. Lawrence (4-6-2, 1-4-2 ECACHL) at Appleton Arena in Canton, N.Y. The puck is slated to drop at 7:00 p.m. ET both Friday and Saturday.
Wayne State split its home series with CHA rival Bemidji State last weekend, dropping Friday's game 3-1 before rebounding for a 5-2 win on Saturday at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum. St. Lawrence skated to a 4-4 tie against Brown on Friday but fell, 3-2, to Yale the next night, snapping the Saints' three-game unbeaten streak.
Following the trip to Canton, Wayne State will play a home-and-home series with Bowling Green State next weekend, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, the first game of which will be at the Coliseum in Detroit.
BEHIND THE BENCH
SLU alumnus Bill Wilkinson is in his ninth season as Wayne State's head coach and his 26th year as a collegiate head coach. Wilkinson's overall record stands at 428-451-80, while his mark at WSU is 115-150-27. He entered the 2007-08 season ranked 23rd on the NCAA all-time wins list.
In his 23rd season with the Saints, head coach Joe Marsh has a career record of 406-335-53. This weekend marks a rare series pitting two coaches with 400-plus victories against one another.
THROUGH THE YEARS
St. Lawrence holds a 3-2-2 advantage in the series dating back to 1999, as the Saints' 4-0 shutout win last October in Detroit snapped the Warriors' four-game unbeaten streak against SLU. Wayne State is looking for its first victory (0-1-2) in Canton.
IN THE POLLS
WSU was selected to finish fourth in the CHA preseason coaches poll, while SLU was tabbed for third in both the ECAC Hockey preseason coaches and media polls.
ON THIS DATE
Wayne State is 2-1 on November 23 in its history, with a 4-2 win against Michigan Tech in 2001, a 5-2 loss to Alabama-Huntsville the next season, and a 6-4 victory over Bemidji State in 2004.
On November 24, the Warriors earned a 5-4 overtime win at BSU in 2000 but fell to Michigan Tech, 4-3, the following year.
SCOUTING ST. LAWRENCE
After winning their first two games of the season, the Saints dropped five of their next six before going 1-1-2 in their recent four-game stretch.
Charlie Giffin (5-4--9), one of five seniors on the SLU roster, and junior Kevin DeVergilio (4-5--9) lead the team in points, and Casey Parenteau has also contributed five goals. St. Lawrence is very well rounded on offense, as 19 different Saints have at least one point through the first 12 games.
The goaltender position has been a revolving door for SLU, as four different goalies - graduate student John Hallas, senior Justin Pesony, and sophomores Alex Petizian and Kain Tisi - have split playing time this season. The quartet has a combined 2.71 goals-against average and .899 save percentage this season.
LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State rookie forward Tyler Ruel scored his first collegiate goal in Friday's 3-1 loss to Bemidji State. WSU's record in home league openers fell to 1-7-0 all-time, with five of those losses coming against the Beavers including the last four.
In the Warriors' first league victory of the season on Saturday (5-2), junior Jon Grabarek scored twice while seniors Mike Forgie and Tylor Michel totaled respective career-highs of three assists apiece. Sophomore goaltender Brett Bothwell made 29 saves for his first win of the year.
Senior Stavros Paskaris and junior Derek Punches each posted a multiple-point game as well, with Paskaris chipping in two helpers while Punches notched an assist and an empty-net goal.
WSU NOTES
The Warriors are led in scoring by Forgie (3-5--8), who is tied for seventh in the CHA in points and has recorded a point in all five series this season. Five of his eight points have come on power plays including two goals.
Sophomore defenseman Jeff Caister posted an assist in three of his last four games. He is second among CHA defensemen in scoring (1-5--6) and ranks ninth and tied-for-sixth, respectively, in points (22) and assists (19) all-time among Wayne State blueliners.
Grabarek has a team-high four goals this season, three of which have been power-play tallies. He and Forgie are tied for ninth all-time at Wayne State with nine career power-play goals.
Ruel leads the Warrior freshman class and ranks fourth in the CHA in rookie scoring (1-4--5). Collectively, the WSU freshmen have accounted for 11 of the team's 54 points this season (20.4 percent).
Junior defenseman Matt Krug scored the game-winning goal last Saturday against BSU. It marked his second career game-winner, as he achieved his first one New Year's Eve 2005 against Western Michigan at the Badger Showdown in Madison, Wis. Krug also contributed an assist on Friday, giving him a point in back-to-back games for the first time since last December.
Paskaris, Wayne State's active leading scorer, moved into a tie with Keith Stanich (1999-2003) for 10th place all-time at WSU with 65 career points. He needs two more to tie Steve Kovalchik (2002-06) for ninth place. Paskaris also ranks seventh all-time with 44 assists and is tied with Forgie for 14th place with 21 goals.
Saturday's victory was also the first time Wayne State has lit the lamp more than twice in a game this season, as the Warriors have been outscored 33-19 through their first 10 games, and the first game in which WSU has come away with a win despite not scoring first. The Warriors have initiated the scoring just once this season - a 2-1 triumph over Lake Superior State on Nov. 10.
Only two teams in the country - Lake Superior State (70.8) and Northern Michigan (64.6) - have a penalty-kill percentage lower than Wayne State (73.6). St. Lawrence (88.9) is tied for 12th in the nation and has allowed only one power-play goal in its last three games and six all season.
Entering this weekend's series at SLU, Wayne State is 9-13-3 all-time against ECAC Hockey opponents. Key victories include a home sweep of the Saints to open the 2002-03 campaign, which culminated with WSU's only NCAA Regional appearance; a 3-2 overtime triumph over then 12th-ranked Brown at the Subway Holiday Classic in Grand Forks, N.D. on Dec. 27, 2003; and a 5-4 win at then 12th-ranked Cornell last November.
LOOKING AHEAD
After the home-and-home set with BGSU next weekend, Wayne State will close out the 2007 portion of its schedule at Western Michigan (Dec. 7-8) and at Niagara (Dec. 14-15). The Warriors' nine-game road trip continues in 2008 at Minnesota (Jan. 4-5) and Northern Michigan (Jan. 11-12).
