March 6, 2006

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GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University women's hockey team (14-15-5, 6-4-2 CHA) will face Niagara University (10-20-4, 3-8-1 CHA) in the semifinals of the College Hockey America Tournament, hosted by WSU at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum.

The game is scheduled to start at 8:05 p.m., following the first semifinal game between Mercyhurst and Robert Morris, which begins at 5:05 p.m.

Wayne State and Niagara concluded the regular season against each other at Dwyer Arena this past weekend. The Purple Eagles avenged a pair of losses in Detroit three weeks ago with a sweep of their own, defeating the Warriors 3-2 on Friday and 2-1 in overtime on Saturday.

The winners of the semifinal games will meet for the 2006 College Hockey America Championship on Sunday, March 12, at 11:05 a.m. The game will be broadcast live on CSTV.

BEHIND THE BENCH
Jim Fetter is in his third season as Wayne State's head coach. He has a career record of 42-47-12 with the Warriors.

Interim head coach Heather Reinke is in her first season with the Purple Eagles.

SERIES HISTORY
Niagara leads the all-time series, 13-6-0, as each squad earned two-game sweeps in their home arenas this season.

IN THE POLLS
Wayne State and Niagara were ranked in a tie for second in the preseason CHA coaches' poll.

ON THIS DATE
The Warriors have never played a game on March 9.

SCOUTING NIAGARA
Winners of three straight games, the Purple Eagles will look to ride the momentum of last weekend's sweep of the Warriors into their semifinal meeting with the host squad.

Senior Amy Jack, who scored the game-winning goal on a power play in Friday's 3-2 Niagara win, leads the Purple Eagles with 13 assists and 21 points this season. Sophomore Charde Hoyle-Levy has a team-high 10 goals.

Junior Chelsea Donovan (9-5--14) scored three goals in last weekend's series, including the game-winner in overtime on Saturday.

Melanie Mills leads all Niagara freshmen in scoring (5-7--12), and is tied for the team high with three power-play goals.

Junior Allison Rutledge has seen the majority of time between the pipes for the Purple Eagles this season. She has a record of 10-16-3, with a goals-against average of 2.70 and a save percentage of .926.

WARRIOR CAPTAIN
Jessica Snelgrove

WARRIOR ASSISTANT CAPTAINS
Ashley King, Peyton Patterson, Kristi Thome

NOTES
The Warriors are 0-3-0 all-time in the CHA Tournament, having been shut out all three times.

Freshman Melissa Boal has 47 points this season, which leads the CHA and ranks in a tie-for-seventh in the nation. She had her seven-game point streak snapped on Saturday, but has recorded a point in 11 of her last 13 games.

Boal also leads the league in all three power-play categories: goals (11), assists (14), and points (25).

Sam Poyton had her school-record 11-game goal-scoring streak snapped on Saturday. She leads the CHA, and is tied for the national lead, with 28 goals.

Goaltender Tiffany Thompson ranks second in the CHA (12th in the nation) with a 2.04 goals-against average and first in the league (seventh in the nation) with a .930 save percentage.

Junior Laura Monk did not record a point last weekend at Niagara, the first time she has been held pointless in a series since Dec. 9-10 at Princeton.

After scoring just one goal in the first 31 games of this season, senior defenseman Sarah Campbell has scored two goals in the last three games. She had the Warriors' lone marker in the 2-1 overtime loss to NU on Saturday.

Campbell leads the WSU senior class with 13 points this season. She and freshman Tina Vanderhoeven are tied-for-second in the CHA in points by defensemen.

Since being shut out, 3-0, by Wisconsin on Jan. 7, Wayne State has outscored its opponents, 45-24.

The Warriors, who lead the CHA with 33 power-play goals, did not record one on Saturday, ending their streak at 10 games. Wayne State is 6-1-1 when it tallies two or more power-play goals.