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 Lindsay DiPietro totaled four points last weekend against Northeastern. |
Nov. 20, 2008
►GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University women's hockey team (7-2-1, 0-0-0 CHA) plays its first College Hockey America series of the season this weekend when the Warriors host the first-year Syracuse Orange (3-8-0, 0-4-0 CHA) 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.
The Warriors extended their winning streak to four games with a home sweep of then-10th ranked Northeastern last weekend, while the Orange dropped a pair of CHA contests against Mercyhurst.
Wayne State will participate in the Nutmeg Classic next weekend at the University of Connecticut before wrapping up its 2008 schedule Dec. 5-6 at Niagara.
►BEHIND THE BENCH
Jim Fetter is 85-77-17 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.
Paul Flanagan, who accumulated a record of 230-83-24 in nine seasons at St. Lawrence, leads Syracuse in its inaugural season.
►THROUGH THE YEARS
This weekend is the first series between these two teams. They will also meet Jan. 23-24 in Syracuse.
►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. Syracuse was picked to finish fifth in the CHA poll.
►SCOUTING SYRACUSE
After losing the first six games of their inaugural season, the Orange went on a three-game winning streak before last weekend's pair of setbacks versus Mercyhurst. Two of Syracuse's three victories came at home three weeks ago against Sacred Heart, including a 10-0 rout on Halloween.
Freshmen forwards Megan Skelly and Lisa Mullan have set the pace offensively for Syracuse, collecting 10 points each. Skelly leads the Orange with six goals, and Mullan has a team-high eight assists. Both are tied for 15th in points per game nationally among rookies.
Sophomore Julie Rising, a transfer from Bemidji State, and freshman Janelle Malcolm have each scored four goals, while sophomore and former New Hampshire forward Stefanie Marty is tied with Rising for third on the squad with eight points.
Another UNH transfer has seen the majority of time between the pipes for Syracuse, as junior goaltender Lucy Schoedel has a 3.21 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage in 11 starts.
Special teams has been a cause for concern, as Syracuse's penalty-killing unit ranks 28th in the country at 78.9 percent, while only two teams - Sacred Heart (7.8) and Bemidji State (5.8) - have a lower power-play average than the Orange (8.1).
►LAST TIME OUT (NOV. 14-15)
Wayne State earned its first sweep over a top-10 ranked team in school history last weekend with a 4-3 victory Friday and a 3-2 triumph Saturday.
Sam Poyton scored all four Warrior goals on Friday, her first career four-goal game. She netted the first goal of the game as well as the final two, helping WSU overcome a one-goal deficit in the third period. Jill Szandzik assisted on both third-period tallies.
The Warriors again battled back from a one-goal disadvantage on Saturday, as power-play goals by Melissa Boal and Chelsea Burnett gave WSU a 3-2 lead it would hold until the final horn. Boal and Burnett assisted on each other's goals, while Lindsay DiPietro had helpers on both and scored the first goal of the game for a three-point afternoon.
Rookie goaltender Delayne Brian finished with 53 saves on the weekend.
►BURNETT EARNS CHA WEEKLY AWARD
Burnett was selected CHA Defensive Player of the Week following her performance against the Huskies. She was +1 in Friday's come-from-behind triumph, and scored the game-winning goal Saturday after assisting on the previous tally which knotted the score at two. While both points came on power plays, Burnett was also key in penalty killing which held the Northeastern power play to 2-of-10 (NU was at 22 percent before the series).
This is Burnett's fifth career CHA award and second Defensive honor, having garnered three Rookie of the Week awards two season ago.
Burnett's game-winner was the second of her career, while her assist moved her into a tie with Kim Spaulding for eighth on Wayne State's career assists list (29).
►CONFERENCE OPENERS
Wayne State is 2-5-1 all-time in conference openers. The Warriors lost each of their opening Great Lakes Women's Hockey League (the predecesor to College Hockey America) contests to Mercyhurst in 2000 and 2001. Since the CHA women's league came into existence, Wayne State has won two of its league openers - a 1-0 victory in 2003 against Niagara and a 6-1 triumph at Robert Morris last season.
►SKATE FOR THE CURE
Last Friday was the fourth annual Skate for the Cure event at the City Sports Center, continuing College Hockey America's initiative to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research and prevention. Wayne State had previously gone winless (0-3) in those games, but snapped the streak with its 4-3 win over Northeastern. More importantly, the team raised over $4,000 for the cause this season.
►SPECIAL TEAMS
After starting the season 1-for-26 (3.8 percent) on power-play opportunities through the first three games, the Warriors are 21-for-41 (51.2) in the last seven games, raising their season average to 23.9 percent. Wayne State's power-play unit ranks second in the conference and sixth nationally. Moreover, 16 of the team's 38 goals this season have come with a skater advantage. On the other side, WSU's penalty-killing rate of 83.3 is tied for second in the CHA.
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 16 of its 38 goals (42.1 percent) in the third period and has outscored its opponents, 16-5, in the final 20 minutes. The Warriors have also nearly doubled the shots on goal registered by their opponents (116-67) in the third period.
Additionally, both victories last weekend against the Huskies were of the comeback variety, as the Warriors pulled ahead in the third period both days. Wayne State had previously gone winless in any game this season in which they were trailing at either intermission.
►HAT TRICK HISTORY
Poyton's hat trick Friday was her second of the season and the 16th in school history. Wayne State had seven hat tricks last season, matching the total from the previous eight years combined. Poyton's five three-goal games is second only to Boal, who has seven in her career including four in the 2007-08 campaign.
Boal and Poyton are the only two players ever at WSU to score four goals in a game. Poyton first achieved this feat Friday, while Boal has done it twice in her career. She became the first four-goal scorer on Feb. 25, 2006 against Robert Morris, and topped that mark with a school-record five goals Oct. 19, 2007 versus Union.
