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 Junior Melissa Boal tallied her second consecutive hat trick and third of the season to lead the women's hockey team to a 5-3 win over Rensselaer |
Nov. 16, 2007
DETROIT - Junior Melissa Boal (Pakenham, Ontario/Ottawa Raiders) tallied her second consecutive hat trick and third of the season to lead the Wayne State University women's hockey team to a 5-3 win over Rensselaer Friday afternoon at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Colisem. Boal also added two assists for a five point effort earning No. 1 star of the game honors and increased her point streak to nine games.
With the victory, the Warriors increase their win streak to three games moving to 7-4-0 on the season while Rensselaer falls to 6-5-1.
Wayne State's offense continued to hit on all cylinders scoring five goals in the final two periods on only 13 shots. WSU has lit the lamp 18 times in its last three games.
Boal's fellow line mates, juniors Sam Poyton (Hamilton, Ont./Stoney Creek Sabres) and Lindsay DiPietro (Manotick, Ont./Ottawa Lady Senators), accumulated the remaining WSU points and were named No. 2 and No. 3 stars respectively . Poyton also moved her point streak to nine games adding two goals and three assists for a five point effort while DiPietro tallied three assists.
Senior goalie Tiffany Thompson (Dryden, Ont./Thunder Bay Queens) record her third consecutive win and fourth of the season making 25 saves. Defensively, the WSU blue line held Rensselaer to a 1-for-6 mark on the power play.
Rensselaer was led by Nicole McDonald, Laura Gersten and Melanie Guillemette who scored a goal each.
The first period was a defensive struggle as either team could register a goal.
Poyton got WSU on the board first at the 6:38 mark of the second period. However, it did not take long for Rensselaer to get the equalizer as McDonald scored for the Engineers just 23 seconds later.
Boal took advantage of a Rensselaer high sticking penalty scoring a power play tally on a one-time feed across the crease from Poyton at the 13:25 mark to give WSU a 2-1 lead heading into the second intermission.
Boal struck again in the third period with both teams on a 4-on-4. Once again the Engineers responded just over a minute later as Gersten pulled RPI to within one, 3-2. At the 7:56 mark, Boal completed the hat trick on an assist from Poyton to put Wayne State up 4-2. Guillemette pulled Rensselaer within a goal, 4-3, but that would be as close as the Engineers would get.
After a late tripping penalty, Poyton scored her second goal of the game on tic-tac-toe passing from Boal and DiPietro to secure the 5-3 win.
Game two between the Warriors and Engineers is Saturday, Nov. 17 at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum with the puck dropping at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast live by B2 Networks on www.wsuathletics.com and is part of a double-header with the WSU men's team.
