Dec. 29, 2006

Detroit, Mich. - The Wayne State women's hockey team (7-11-0 overall; 1-1-0 CHA) will open the new year when it hosts Colgate (7-9-1; 7-3-0 ECACHL) on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 5-6. Friday's contest will be at 7:00 p.m. at City Ice Arena, while Saturday's game will be at 2:00 p.m. at the Taylor Sportsplex.

The game at the Sportsplex is part of the Mid West Elite Girls Hockey League (MWEGHL) Showcase weekend schedule. The MWEGHL is comprised of teams from 10 different states as far west as Colorado and east to New Jersey at the U14, U16 and U18 age levels. Of the 36 teams that make up the MWEGHL, 12 are from Michigan alone. The league schedule consists of tournament-style weekend showcases hosted by member associations in different cities throughout the season. Last year in 2006, 83 graduating seniors from MWEGHL teams went to play college hockey at the Division I & III level.

Associate head coach Grant Kimball had this to say about the game at the Sportsplex: "This represents an outstanding opportunity for Wayne State University and our hockey program to connect with the youth hockey community not only here in Michigan but on a national scale given where these teams come from. The players, parents and coaches don't get the chance to see a Division I women's college hockey all that often and they will see two very talented hockey teams out there. It's also nice to have MWEGHL showcase weekend in our backyard to recruit from as well. The atmosphere should be excellent and I know both teams are looking forward to playing in front of such a captive audience. It should be a great event!"

Wayne State last played Dec. 16-17 at home against CHA-rival Niagara, splitting the weekend series against the Purple Eagles. The Raiders are on a three-game winning streak. Last season, the Warriors split two games at Colgate (Oct. 28-29, 2005), losing the first day, 3-2, and winning the following day, 4-0.