March 1, 2008

Box Score

DETROIT - The Wayne State University women's hockey team sent its seniors out in grand fashion as the Warriors claimed their first ever share of the College Hockey America (CHA) regular season title with a 4-3 victory over visiting Niagara Saturday afternoon at the City Sports Arena. With the win, WSU (21-8-3, 9-2-1 CHA) locks up the No. 1 seed in the post-season tournament held at Niagara's Dwyer Arena and will face No. 4 seed Robert Morris on March 7 at 3:00 p.m.

Special teams was a major factor as both teams combined for six power-play goals as Wayne State went 2-for-4 while Niagara (9-21-4, 3-9-0 CHA) was 3-for-7 with a man advantage. The Purple Eagles outshot the Warriors 26-17.

Senior Ashley King (Winnipeg, Man./River East Lightning) closed out her successful career tallying the game- winning goal. Junior Melissa Boal (Pakenham, Ont./Ottawa Raiders) once again led the way for the Warriors with a goal and assist increasing her point streak to 17 games. Junior Sam Poyton (Hamilton, Ont./Stoney Creek Sabres) and sophomore Chelsea Burnett (Ridgeway, Ont./Stoney Creek Sabres) also added a goal each.

Juniors Lindsay DiPietro (Manotick, Ont./Ottawa Lady Senators), Tina Vanderhoeven (London, Ont./London Juniors/Team Ontario) and Sammi Bowers (Littleton, Col./Colorado Selects (North Dakota) along with sophomore Katrina Protopapas (Chatham, Ont./Bluewater Hawks) each recorded an assist.

Senior Valery Turcotte (Jonquiere, Quebec/Royal Metabetchouan) picked up her 16th win of the season with 17 saves.

Niagara got goals from junior Ashley Riggs, senior Shannon Moulson and freshman Marie Linander Kerriksen while Junior Melanie Mills added two assists. Sophomore goalie Jill Zelonis recorded 26 saves in the losing effort.

Niagara got on the board first as Riggs connected on a top shelf wrist shot from Mills and Kara Edwards for a power-play goal and 1-0 lead. WSU responded at the 14:45 mark as Boal got the puck on a turnover in the NU zone and whistled a shot off Zelonis which rebounded in front of the net and was banged home by Poyton.

In the second period, NU regained the lead with its second power-play goal. This time WSU failed to clear the zone as Mills got the puck and passed it over the Moulson who ripped a shot past Turcotte from just inside the blue line for a 2-1 lead. However, the lead would not last long as Burnett made the most out of an errant attempt to clear the zone. She pinched in from her defensive position and got the puck which bounced off the boards and skated in alone down the right side and beat Zelonis with a wrist shot to the top shelf at the 5:22 mark. WSU got its first lead of the day approximately six minutes later on the power-play as DiPietro took a pass from Vanderhoeven and launched a hard shot on goal. The puck hit Zelonis, bounced up and Boal hit it in mid-air into the back of the net for a 3-2 advantage at the 10:57 mark.

WSU went up 4-2 in the final frame once again on the power-play as Protopappas sent a pass across the zone which hit the boards on the left side. Bowers took the puck off the boards and pushed it up to King who then lit the lamp.

Niagara would not give up as WSU took a costly 5:00 minute major penalty for elbowing at the 16:12 mark. NU pulled the goalie in favor of the extra attacker with a 1:50 remaining and it paid off as Henriksen scored with just 26 second left in regulation. Out of a time out, the Purple Eagle mounted a late rush but Turcotte came up big with a point-blank save on Riggs with five seconds left to preserve the 4-3 win.

Wayne State heads to Niagara, N.Y. for 2008 CHA Tournament held March 7-8.