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 Delayne Brian earned her first career shutout last Saturday at Vermont. |
Nov. 13, 2008
►GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University women's hockey team (5-2-1) begins a four-game homestand this weekend as the Warriors host the #10 Northeastern University Huskies (6-1-2) for a series at the City Sports Center in Detroit. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. on Friday and 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, with play-by-play broadcaster Tom Balog calling the action on Teamline, which is free to all fans via the Internet. Additionally, Friday is Skate for the Cure Night, continuing College Hockey America's initiative to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research and treatment.
The Warriors swept a series at Vermont by scores of 5-3 and 7-0, the latter marking WSU's largest margin of victory in two seasons. The Huskies' only action last weekend was a 4-1 victory Sunday against Maine.
Wayne State will host Syracuse next weekend, Nov. 21-22, the team's last games at home until 2009.
►BEHIND THE BENCH
Jim Fetter is 84-77-17 in six seasons at the helm of the WSU women's hockey program. He earned his third consecutive College Hockey America (CHA) Coach of the Year award last season in addition to being named the Women's Division I Coach of the Year by the American Hockey Coaches Association.
Dave Flint, who is in his first year at Northeastern, holds a 94-16-4 career record in five seasons.
►THROUGH THE YEARS
Wayne State leads Northeastern, 4-2-0, in the all-time series which dates back to 2002. All six meetings have taken place in Boston, with the Warriors winning the last four including a sweep last season.
►IN THE POLLS
Wayne State was predicted to finish in second place by the CHA head coaches in the 2008-09 preseason poll, and is receiving votes in both the USCHO.com/CSTV and USA Today/USA Hockey Women's Division I national polls. Northeastern was picked to finish in a tie for sixth in the Hockey East preseason coaches poll and is currently ranked 10th in both national polls.
►SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN
The Huskies are nationally ranked for the first time in six years. They went unbeaten (5-0-2) in their first seven games before suffering a 5-0 loss Nov. 1 against Boston College.
Defenseman Julia Marty, the most recent recipient of Hockey East's Player of the Week award, scored her first career hat trick in Northeastern's 4-1 win over Maine last Sunday. She leads the team with 10 points and seven assists, while her 1.43 points-per-game average ranks second nationally among blueliners.
Northeastern's top three scorers are sophomores, including Marty. Forward Kristi Kehoe has nine points including a team-best seven goals, and forward Alyssa Wohfeiler is tied with senior Ali Bielawski with seven points.
The Huskies have enjoyed the benefit of solid goaltending this season, as rookie Florence Schelling leads Hockey East and ranks third in the country with a 0.79 goals-against average and a .976 save percentage. Sophomore Leah Sulyma is third in the conference with a 1.72 GAA and .940 SV%.
As a team, Northeastern's scoring defense (1.22 G/GM) is the third-lowest in the country.
►LAST TIME OUT (NOV. 7-8)
Wayne State scored four power-play goals on its way to a 5-3 victory at Vermont last Friday night at the Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Vt. Sam Poyton and Lindsay DiPietro scored two goals each, Melissa Boal recorded three assists and Chelsea Burnett chipped in a pair of helpers.
Vermont took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Erin Barley-Maloney at 13:51 in the opening period, but Wayne State scored four straight over the next 18 minutes. The Catamounts narrowed their deficit to 4-3 but a power-play goal in the third period by DiPietro sealed the win.
The Warriors netted three more power-play goals and out-shot the Catamounts, 23-7, in Saturday's 7-0 win. Boal finished with four points, scoring two goals including her second short-handed tally of the season. Poyton and DiPietro posted a goal and an assist each, and rookie goaltender Delayne Brian, who totaled 37 saves in the series, earned her first career shutout.
►WSU vs. HOCKEY EAST
Wayne State is 12-6-0 (.667) all-time against teams from Hockey East. The Warriors are riding a six-game winning streak against Hockey East foes, having swept Northeastern and Maine last season and Vermont last weekend. Following this weekend's series against the Huskies, Wayne State has one game remaining against a Hockey East team (Nov. 28 at Connecticut).
►WINNING BIG
Last Saturday's 7-0 win marked the largest margin of victory since Wayne State defeated Robert Morris by consecutive 7-0 scores Feb. 24-25, 2006.
WSU's only other victories of a seven-goal differential or greater were an 8-1 win Jan. 2, 2004 against Union and the school-record 9-0 triumph Jan. 20, 2001 versus Connecticut.
►SKATE FOR THE CURE
Friday is the fourth annual Skate for the Cure event at the City Sports Center. While it is a positive campaign from a philanthropic standpoint, past Skate for the Cure games have not been kind to the Warriors on the scoreboard. Wayne State is 0-3 when hosting this event.
The Warriors fell to then-sixth ranked Mercyhurst, 4-2, in the first Skate for the Cure game on Feb. 10, 2006. Wayne State dropped a 6-1 result to Minnesota State on Nov. 10, 2006, and a 5-3 decision to then-fourth ranked St. Lawrence on Nov. 2, 2007.
►SPECIAL TEAMS
After starting the season 1-for-26 (3.8 percent) on power-play opportunities through the first three games, the Warriors are 19-for-34 (55.9) in the last five games, raising their season average to 23.3 percent. Wayne State's power-play unit leads the conference and ranks sixth nationally.
On the other side, WSU's penalty-killing rate of 84.0 also leads the CHA. The Warriors held the Catamounts to two power-play goals on 15 chances last weekend.
During the 2007-08 campaign, the Warriors had a power-play average of 19.5 percent and matched the school record with 38 power-play goals. Their penalty-killing unit averaged 80.6 percent.
►BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Wayne State has scored 13 of its 31 goals (41.9 percent) in the third period and has outscored its opponents, 13-5, in the final 20 minutes.
The Warriors have also nearly doubled the shots on goal registered by their opponents (100-51) in the third period.
►HAT TRICK HISTORY
Poyton's hat trick three weeks ago against Colgate was the 15th in school history and the sixth-fastest (23:49). Wayne State had seven hat tricks last season, matching the total from the previous eight years combined. Poyton's four three-goal games is second only to Boal, who has seven in her career including four in the 2007-08 campaign.
►MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
• Boal's two goals on Saturday at Vermont were scored in the fourth-shortest individual span in school history (2:07).
• Senior forward Amanda Hungle snapped a 17-game scoreless streak with an assist Saturday.
• Brian became the fifth goaltender in WSU history to record a complete shutout Saturday, and the first rookie netminder to do so since Valery Turcotte on Dec. 30, 2004 (5-0 at Union).
• Freshman forward Micheline Frappier scored her first collegiate goal Saturday.
• The Warrior rookies have accounted for 21 of the team's 80 points this season (26.3 percent) and nine of its 31 goals (29.0).
