Jan. 17, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

WSU TO HOST QUINNIPIAC: The Wayne State University women's hockey team concludes its six-game homestand with a series against Quinnipiac University (Jan. 18-19). WSU leads the all-time series with a 7-0-1 record winning the last meeting, 4-3, Jan. 20, 2007. The Warriors enter the contest with a 5-3-2 mark at home this season. The first game will be played at the Taylor SportsPlex in Taylor, Mich. as part of a double-header with the WSU men's hockey team on Friday. The Warriors will return to the City Sports Center in Detroit, Mich. for the series finale on Saturday.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS: Quinnipiac is a member of ECAC and enters the series with a 3-14-4 overall record and 0-10-3 mark in conference play. Last weekend, the Bobcats fell 6-1 to Brown (Jan. 11) and 5-2 to Yale (Jan. 12). Offensively, Quinnipiac is led by junior Elyse Cole with 13 points (seven goals, six assists) and sophomore Kallie Cole's 11 points (five goals, six assists). Defensively, freshman Jamie Miller has seen a majority of time between the pipes this season. Miller has a 3-12-4 record with a 3.12 goals-against average (gaa) and .899 save percentage.

KELLY RETURNS TO WSU: Former Wayne State goaltender Matt Kelly returns as a first year assistant coach for Quinnipiac. Last season, Kelly served as a volunteer assistant coach for the WSU men's hockey team. He was a four-year letterwinner and captain during his senior campaign in 2005-06 earning College Hockey America (CHA) Second Team honors along with the CHA/Easton Three Star Award and was named team Most Valuable Player. Kelly was also named to the CHA All-Academic Team and the 2004 CHA All-Tournament Team.

FOLLOW WSU HOCKEY ON TEAMLINE: All 10 WSU remaining home women's hockey games can be heard via Teamline for free. You can access Teamline at http://www.teamline.cc/teampage?teamcode=4820 in order to listen live to the audio webcast.

BOAL EARNS CHA ACCOLADES: Junior forward Melissa Boal (Pakenham, Ont./Ottawa Raiders) was named College Hockey America (CHA) Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season (Jan. 14). Boal recorded three points (two goals, one assist) in WSU's sweep of visiting Maine marking the first time the Warriors defeated the Black Bears in eight previous attempts. In Friday's contest, Boal assisted on WSU's second goal en route to a 5-0 shutout victory. In the second game, she led the Warriors with two goals in the 4-3 triumph. Boal scored the second goal of the game, and after Maine had cut it to 2-1, she tallied a power-play goal to put the Warriors ahead 3-1 early in the third period.

RINK REWIND: Wayne State completed a series sweep of Maine (Jan. 11-12). In just her third game in a WSU uniform after transferring from North Dakota, redshirt junior Sammi Bowers (Littleton, Colo./Colorado Selects) scored two goals to lead the women's hockey team to a 5-0 victory (Jan. 11). The win marked the first for the Warriors in nine games vs. the Black Bears. Senior Valery Turcotte (Jonquiere, Quebec/Royal Metabetchouan) also recorded her seventh career shutout and second of the season earning No. 1 star of the game honors. In game two, WSU held off Maine, 4-3 (Jan. 12). Junior Melissa Boal (Pakenham, Ont./Ottawa Radiers) led the team with two goals while junior Sam Poyton (Hamilton, Ont./Stoney Creek Sabres) tallied the game-winning goal in the third period.

WARRIOR FRONT LINE AMONG THE NATION'S BEST: Members of WSU's top scoring line are ranked in many national offensive categories. Boal ranks second on the team accumulating 38 points (22 goals, 16 assists) and leads the nation in points-per-game (2.24, 39 total) and goals-per-game (1.29, 22 total). She also is fourth in short-handed goals (.12, two total), sixth in power-play goals (.35 ppg, 6 total) and seventh in assists per game (.94, 16 total). Poyton is second in the nation in goals-per-game (1.17, 21 total) and game-winning goals (7 total), third in power-play goals (.39, seven total) and points-per-game (2.17, 39 total). She also is fifth in assists-per-game (1.00, 18 total) and leads the team with 39 points (21 goals, 18 assists). DiPietro leads the country in assists-per-game (1.61, 29 total) and is sixth in points-per-game (1.94, 35 total). She is third on the team with 35 points (six goals, 29 assists).

COMMISSIONER'S CUP: Saturday's match up between WSU and Quinnipiac (Jan. 19) is part of the Commissioners Cup. The Warriors are 1-1 in Commissioners' Cup competition thus far with a 7-1 victory over Union (Oct. 19) and 7-3 setback at Colgate (Nov. 24). For the second straight year, the commissioners of the four NCAA Division I women's ice hockey conferences are sponsoring a competition for the Women's Commissioners' Cup. A total of 30 different programs will participate in the 20-game schedule that opened up with two games on Saturday, October 13. Last year's inaugural competition was captured by the WCHA.

SHUT EM' DOWN: Turcotte recorded her seventh career shutout and second of the season earning No. 1 star of the game honors with 12 saves in WSU's 5-0 victory over Maine (Jan. 11). Earlier in the season, she earned No. 1 star of the game honors after recording her sixth career by shutout stopping all 15 shots in leading WSU to a 4-0 victory over Union (Oct. 20).

HIGH POWERED OFFENSE: The Warriors are second in the conference and fifth in the country in scoring offense with 67 goals (3.72 g/gm).

POWER UP: WSU's power-play ranks seventh nationally with 21 goals on 102 attempts (20.6%).

FOUR OR MORE: WSU holds a perfect 10-0-0 record when scoring four or more goals in a game.