Nov. 26, 2008

Game Notes in PDF Format

►GAME STORYLINES
The 10th-ranked Wayne State University women's hockey team (9-2-1, 2-0-0 CHA) heads into the University of Connecticut's Nutmeg Classic this weekend riding a six-game winning streak. The Warriors will face the host Huskies (7-6-2, 2-4-1 HE) on Friday at 4:00 p.m., and will either meet Quinnipiac (2-13-1, 1-4-1 ECAC) or Yale (3-5-0, 2-4-0 ECAC) on Saturday at the Freitas Ice Center in Storrs, Conn.

The Warriors, in their first conference series of the season, swept Syracuse last weekend in Detroit by scores of 5-3 and 5-2. Connecticut had lost three in a row until Tuesday's 4-0 victory over Brown. Quinnipiac dropped a pair of 2-0 decisions at home to Clarkson and St. Lawrence last weekend, and Yale snapped a two-game skid with a 4-1 upset at home against fourth-ranked Boston University on Tuesday night.

Wayne State wraps up its 2008 schedule Dec. 5-6 at CHA rival Niagara. After a break for exams and holidays, a trip to St. Cloud State and a weekend off precede a home series Jan. 16-17 against Robert Morris.

►BEHIND THE BENCH
Jim Fetter is 88-77-17 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.

Heather Linstad has a 108-132-32 record in nine years at Connecticut and a 269-203-59 mark overall in her 17-year career. Rick Seeley is in his first year at Quinnpiac after accumulating a 147-83-22 record in eight seasons (Manhattanville, Clarkson), and Yale's Hilary Witt is 75-94-19 in seven years with the Bulldogs.

►THROUGH THE YEARS
Wayne State comes into the Nutmeg Classic holding a slim 4-3-0 lead over Connecticut in the all-time series. The Warriors set school records for goals in a game and margin of victory in their first meeting with the Huskies, a 9-0 victory in 2001. UConn swept Wayne State in Storrs two seasons ago, the last time the two teams met.

WSU is unbeaten (9-0-1) all-time against Quinnipiac and is tied with Yale, 1-1-2, although the Warriors and Bulldogs have not played each other since 2002.

►IN THE POLLS
Wayne State was predicted to finish in second place by the CHA head coaches in the 2008-09 preseason poll. The Warriors are ranked 10th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Women's Division I national poll and are receiving votes in the USCHO.com/CSTV poll.

Connecticut was ranked fourth in the Hockey East preseason poll, while Yale and Quinnipiac were tabbed for eighth and 11th, respectively, in the ECAC Hockey preseason poll.

►SCOUTING CONNECTICUT
The Huskies snapped a three-game losing streak, which included two shutouts, with a 4-0 victory Tuesday against Brown.

Junior forward Dominique Thibault leads Hockey East with 14 goals and ranks second with 21 points. Junior defenseman Cristin Allen has a team-high nine assists, while junior forward Michelle Binning tops the squad with five power-play goals.

Goaltenders Brittany Wilson and Alexandria Garcia have shared the majority of playing time this season. Wilson has a 4-2-1 record with a 2.22 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage in 10 games. Garcia, meanwhile, is 1-4-1 with a 2.16 GAA and a .911 SV% in seven games.

►SCOUTING QUINNIPIAC
The Bobcats have struggled in the first half of the 2008-09 season, winning just two of their first 16 games. Consecutive 2-0 shutout losses to Clarkson, Seeley's former team, and St. Lawrence extended QU's home losing streak to seven games.

Junior forward Janine Duffy is the squad's leading scorer with nine points. She is also tied with senior blueliner Trudy Reyns for the team lead with five assists. Senior forward Elyse Cole has a squad-best five goals, four of which have come on power plays.

Nanna Holm-Glaas has made 12 starts for the Bobcats between the pipes. She is 1-10-0 with a 4.29 goals-against average and a .866 save percentage.

►SCOUTING YALE
All of the Bulldogs' scoring had been contained within a group of five players until a more balanced attack led Yale to a 4-1 win against the Terriers, who came into New Haven with a 10-game unbeaten streak.

Senior forward Crysti Howser leads Yale with seven goals and 13 points, followed by sophomore forward Bray Ketchum who has 10 points including six helpers. Helen Resor and Aleca Hughes have eight points each, and Alyssa Clarke has five assists.

Five Bulldogs earned their first point of the season Tuesday night, including Kristen Stupay who scored the game-winner.

►LAST TIME OUT (NOV. 21-22)
Wayne State held off a late Syracuse rally to preserve a 5-3 victory over the Orange on Friday night at the City Sports Center.

Four straight WSU goals gave the home team a 5-1 lead heading into the third period, when Syracuse scored twice with less than four minutes to go.

Melissa Boal had a three-point night, scoring twice and adding an assist, while Alyssa Baldin recorded her second two-goal game of the season including a short-handed tally. Sam Poyton, who contributed the game-winning goal and an assist, and Lindsay DiPietro, who had a pair of helpers, also had multiple-point performances.

In Saturday's 5-2 victory, Wayne State's sixth win in a row, Poyton and Boal notched a goal and an assist each. DiPietro had two assists, and Jill Szandzik scored the game-winner, her first career goal.

Delayne Brian made 36 saves in the series and improved to 7-1-0 on the season.

►TWO WARRIORS EARN CHA AWARDS
Boal and Baldin were selected as the CHA Offensive Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, following the Syracuse series. Boal, who had a five-point weekend, earned her second Offensive award of the season and the 13th of her career. For scoring three goals against the Orange, Baldin collected her second Rookie honor of the year.

►CAREER MILESTONES
With career totals of 98 and 97 goals, respectively, Boal and Poyton are both nearing the 100-goal milestone. Only four players in NCAA Division I women's hockey history have reached 100 goals for their careers. Boal and Poyton are the top active goal scorers in the country and rank in the top five in NCAA history.

Boal, who is also the top active player with 184 points, needs one more to break into the top 10 all-time in Division I hockey. Poyton (169 pts. - 15th) and DiPietro (156 pts. - 26th) have advanced on the NCAA points list this season as well.

DiPietro has 114 assists and is one shy of moving into a tie for eighth place on the NCAA career assists list, while Poyton's 24 career game-winning goals, three short of the national record, rank in a tie for second all-time.

►NATIONAL LEADERS
Boal ranks fifth in the nation this season with a 1.83 points/game average, while Poyton's 1.75 mark is sixth. Both Poyton (1.08 - T3rd) and Boal (1.00 - 5th) rank in the top five in goals/game as well.

DiPietro is in a tie for 10th place with a 0.92 assists/game average, Poyton is tied for fifth with five power-play goals, and Natalie Payne's 1.00 points/game pace is tied for fourth nationally among defensemen.

As a team, Wayne State is fourth in scoring offense (4.00), fifth in power-play average (25.0) and fifth in team winning percentage (.792). The Warriors' six-game unbeaten streak coming into the Nutmeg Classic is tied for the third-longest current streak in the country.

►WSU vs. HOCKEY EAST
Wayne State comes into Friday's meeting with Connecticut carrying an eight-game winning streak against teams from Hockey East. The Warriors, who are 14-6-0 all-time against Hockey East foes, swept Vermont and Northeastern earlier this season. WSU's winning percentage of .700 is its best against any conference in Division I hockey.

►WSU vs. ECAC HOCKEY
Having played more teams from ECAC Hockey than any other conference in program history, Wayne State is 34-49-12 (.421) all-time against squads from that league. The Warriors are 4-1-1 in their last six against ECAC teams, including back-to-back 6-2 victories at Union and against Colgate 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 24-for-50 (48.0) in the last nine games, raising their season average to 25.0 percent. Wayne State's power-play unit ranks second in the conference and fifth nationally. Moreover, 19 of the team's 48 goals this season have come with a skater advantage. On the other side, WSU's penalty-killing rate of 81.9 is third 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.

►ROOKIE SCORING
With Saturday's game-winning goal, Szandzik became the fourth Wayne State freshman to light the lamp this season. The Warrior freshman class has contributed 30 of the team's 123 points (24.4 percent).

Veronique Laramee-Paquette is at the head of the class with 10 points, tied for second among all freshmen in College Hockey America. Right behind her is Baldin, whose nine points put her in a tie for fourth in the league among rookies.

►STARTING STRONG
Wayne State has its best record in school history through the first 12 games, having won nine of those contests. The team has exceeded the 7-4-1 start posted by last year's squad, which did not win its ninth game until Jan. 11 against Maine.

►FRANCK A FORMER BULLDOG
WSU assistant coach Nicolette Franck, a former four-year goaltender for Yale, compiled a .878 save percentage and a 4.23 goals-against average in 45 games, while her career total of 1,120 saves ranks eighth all-time in Yale history. She was awarded the Bulldog Award for grit, courage and dedication in 2004 and was named a National Strength and Conditioning Association All-American.

Franck graduated from Yale in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

►CONFERENCE OPENERS
Following last Friday's 5-3 victory, Wayne State improved to 3-5-1 all-time in conference openers. The Warriors lost each of their opening Great Lakes Women's Hockey League (the predecessor 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 other league openers - a 1-0 victory in 2003 against Niagara and a 6-1 triumph at Robert Morris last season.

►SKATE FOR THE CURE
Two weeks ago was the fourth annual Skate for the Cure event at the City Sports Center, continuing the CHA's initiative to raise funds for breast cancer research. 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.

►HAT TRICK HISTORY
Poyton's hat trick two weeks ago 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 against Northeastern, 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.