March 6, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

WSU TO BATTLE ROBERT MORRIS IN CHA TOURNAMENT: The Wayne State University women's hockey team enters the 2008 CHA tournament as the No. 1 seed by virtue of a 2-2-1 regular season record over Mercyhurst. The Warriors will take on No. 4 seed Robert Morris in semifinal action. WSU leads the all-time series with an 11-1-0 record. Earlier this season, the Warriors took the season series against the Colonials with a 3-1-0 mark. However, WSU split a defensive struggle with a 2-1 setback and win the last time the two teams met (Feb. 15-16). The victory was RMU's first over the Warriors in school history and the only time the Colonials defeated a ranked team. WSU has never played Robert Morris in the post-season and enters the game with a 1-5 all-time mark in tournament play. Last season, the Warriors advanced to the CHA final for the first time with a 3-2 semifinal win over Niagara before falling 4-1 to Mercyhurst.

SCOUTING THE COLONIALS: No. 4 seed Robert Morris enters the tournament semifinal match up with a 9-21-4 overall record and finished the regular season with a 2-9-0 mark in conference play. Last weekend, the Colonials dropped a pair of hard fought conference games to #7 Mercyhusrt , 5-2 and 5-4 (OT) (Feb. 29-Mar. 1). RMU has a well balanced offense led by freshmen Morgan Beikirch (five goals, 13 assists) and Sara O'Malley (10 goals, six assists) with 18 and 17 points respectively. In addition, nine other players have double-digit point totals. Defensively, junior Brianne McLaughlin has been solid in net leading the conference with a .914 save percentage while ranking third with a 2.81 goals-against average (gaa).

WSU EARNS SHARE OF FIRST CHA REGULAR SEASON TITLE: Last weekend, WSU earned a share of its first CHA regular season title in school history with a sweep over Niagara. In Friday's 3-1 win (Feb. 29), the Warriors jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back as Poyton scored her nation's best 13th game-winning goal. On Saturday, Wayne State sent its five seniors out in style winning a wild 4-3 game which saw the lead change hands three different times. Senior Ashley King (Winnipeg, Man./River East Lightning) closed out her successful career tallying the game-winning goal.

FOLLOW WSU HOCKEY ON TEAMLINE AND B2 NETWORK: Streaming audio for WSU CHA semifinal tournament game will be broadcast 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. The entire 2008 CHA tournament will also be broadcast via the B2 Network. For the B2 Networks' Programming Guide or for information about B2 Networks, visit www.b2livetv.com, Each game will be aired through each school's athletic Web site for the cost of $6 each.

THREE STARS FOR POYTON: Poyton was named CHA Easton Hockey Three-Star Player of the Year accumulating the 29 points in CHA conference games.

WSU RECEIVES VOTES IN NATIONAL POLLS: WSU received votes in both USA Today/USA American Hockey and U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) national polls.

BOAL AND TURCOTTE GARNER CHA HONORS: Boal and Turcotte were named College Hockey America (CHA) Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week respectively. This is the third time Turcotte has won the award this season and the fifth time for Boal. This also marks the 18th time a Wayne State women's hockey player has earned league honors during the regular season. Boal tallied five points on three goals and two assists in the Warriors sweep of Niagara. She scored the first goal of the game on Friday, assisted on the game-winner then added an insurance marker. In Saturday's win, which clinched a share of the regular-season title for WSU, she assisted on a goal which tied the game at one and then scored a go-ahead goal. Boal finished the weekend with a +3 plus/minus rating. Turcotte, who led the CHA with nine conference wins, recorded both victories over the weekend. She stopped 24 shots in Friday's 3-1 triumph. In Saturday's 4-3 victory, Turcotte made 23 saves allowing three power-play goals. She finished the weekend with a .922 save percentage.

BOAL NAMED KAZMAIER AWARD FINALIST: Boal was named as one of the top-10 finalists for the 2008 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award by the USA Hockey Foundation. Boal becomes the first women's hockey player in school history to be named as a Kazmaier finalist. In its 11th year, the award recognizes the accomplishments of the most outstanding player in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey each season.

18 AND COUNTING: DiPietro is currently riding a school record 18-game point streak. She also recorded two assists (Feb. 22-23) to reach the career century mark.

WARRIOR FRONT LINE AMONG NATION'S BEST: Members of WSU's top scoring line are ranked near the top in many national offensive categories. Boal is first on the team with 68 points (34 goals, 34 assists) and leads the nation in points-per-game (2.27, 68 total), is second in assists-per-game (1.13, 34 total), third in goals-per-game (1.13, 34 total) power-play goals (.37 ppg, 11 total) and short-handed goals per game (.10, three total). She also ranks 12th in game-winning goals (five total). Poyton is second on the team with 65 points (37 goals, 28 assists). She leads the nation in game-winning goals (13), ranks second in goals-per-game (1.16, 37 total), third in points-per-game (2.03, 65 total), fifth in power-play goals per game (.31, 10 total) and seventh in assists-per-game (.88, 28 total). DiPietro is third on the team with 63 points (16 goals, 47 assists). She leads the country in assists-per-game (1.44, 47 total), ranks fourth in points-per-game (1.94, 63 total), eighth in short handed goals (.06, two total) and 30th in goals-per game (.50, 16 total). Burnett ranks 25th nationally in points-per-game for defenseman (.56, 18 total).

TEAM HITS NATIONAL MARKS: As a team, WSU ranks fifth nationally in scoring offense (3.72 g/gm) and 10th in winning percentage (70.3), scoring margin (.91) and power-play percentage (19.3).

TURCOTTE HOT BETWEEN THE PIPES: Turcotte has a 13-2-2 mark over the last 18 games with 425 saves, 2.09 goal-against average, .922 save percentage and two shutouts. Turcotte also ranks 10th in the country with a .708 overall winning percentage. She set a career-high with an 11-game win streak (Jan. 5-Feb. 15).

BOAL IMPROVES CAREER SCORING STREAK: Boal has a career-high 17-game scoring streak which eclipsed her old mark of 10 set earlier this season (Oct. 19-Nov. 17, 2007). That streak ended prematurely as she was forced to leave the first game of the Colgate series (Nov. 23) due to injury before recording a point.

RUTLEDGE RETURNS TO NIAGARA: Prior to the season, Allison Rutledge was named assistant coach of the Wayne State women's hockey team by head coach Jim Fetter. Rutledge, a former standout goaltender at Niagara University, brings a wealth of experience to the Warriors. During her career at Niagara, Rutledge was a four-year letterwinner, two-time team captain and finished as the program's all-time leader in saves with 3,405 which ranks second in NCAA history. She also earned CHA All-Academic honors three times. As a senior, she was named Second Team All-American by the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA). She also was a CHA First Team selection and named CHA Student-Athlete of the Year. During her junior campaign in 2005-06, Rutledge set the single-season Niagara save record with 1,103 and was named to the CHA First Team and All-Tournament Team. Rutledge also made the CHA All-Rookie team as a freshman in 2003-04.