Wayne State splits in the mountains

It took over a third of the season, but the Wayne State Warriors (1-9-2, 1-4-1 CHA) finally got in the left column as they split a two-game set with the Air Force Academy Falcons at the Cadet Arena in Colorado Springs, CO.

Friday

After numerous close calls this season, the Warriors would not be denied the win on Friday night and skated away with a hard fought 4-3 victory.

Wayne State out shot Air Force 21-9 in the first period and by the 16:18 mark, led 2-0 on goals by Mike Forgie and Stavros Paskaris.

Air Force came back and tied the score at two, but the Warriors got a power-play marker off the stick of freshman Jon Grabarek to retake the lead at 4:51 of the second.

The Cadets took advantage of a 5-on-3 edge and tied the score with Dexter native, Eric Ehn’s second goal of the night at 9:40.

Grabarek wasn’t done though as he set up defenseman Dan Illiakis on the power-play at 14:01 to give the Warriors their first win since March 5th of last season.

Senior Matt Kelly (pictured above) was between the pipes for the Green and Gold and stopped 30 of 33 shots for his 21st career win in a Warrior sweater. Canton’s Peter Foster saved 35 shots in the loss for Air Force.

Saturday

The Warriors got into a shoot-out in Saturday’s finale and although they trailed 7-2 in the third, they fought back and lost by a 7-6 final score.

Eric Ehn led the Falcons again with a pair of goals and assisted on two more including Josh Schaffer’s eventual game winner at 2:48 of the third period.

Wayne State fought back with four-straight markers by Derek Punches, Stavros Paskaris, Nate Higgins, and finally Jason Bloomingburg to make it a one-goal game with 1:40 left in the contest.

The Warriors couldn’t squeak the tying goal past Falcons goalie Ian Harper, who finished the night with 22 saves.

Matt Kelly started the game for Wayne State, but was replaced after giving up 5 goals in 21 shots. Will Hooper manned the net for the last 24:52 and gave up 2 goals on 16 shots to take the loss and drop his personal record to 0-5-0 on the year.

After sitting out a game for fighting in the Union series, Jason Baclig made his return to the Warrior line-up and pitched in three assists. Higgins and Paskaris also chipped in a pair of goals each.

Next Up…

The Warriors will play their final two home games of 2005 this weekend when the host Hockey East’s Merrimack Warriors at the Coliseum in Detroit. Last season the two teams spilt a pair of games in North Andover, Mass.

Saturday’s post-game will also feature "Skate with the Warriors" after the game and each fan will also get a free team picture card that can be used for autographs. Youth hockey participants will receive free admission by wearing their team jersey.

The Wayne State Athletic Department will also be collecting toys for the annual "Toys for Tots" drive at these games and fans that bring a new, unwrapped toy will receive free admission to the game.

Ex-Grizzly nets first pro goal

Former Oakland University forward Ryan Webb scored his first professional goal this week for the Flint Generals of the United Hockey League.

He now has one goal and two assists in 17 games in the minor pro circuit.

Webb spent two seasons with Utica College in the NCAA Division III ranks and part of this season with the Golden Grizzlies of the ACHA. Incidently, another former ACHAer, Jake Laime (Davenport University), is a current teammate of Webb with the Generals.

Canton native takes monthly CCHA honor

The Central Collegiate Hockey Association announced today that sophomore forward Alex Foster of Bowling Green State University has been named the RBC Financial Group CCHA Player of the Month for November.

The 21-year-old from Canton, Mich., recorded four goals and 14 assists in eight games during the month to take over the national scoring lead with a 1.85 points-per-game average. He is also the country’s most productive set-up man with a 1.45 assists-per-game average.

The 5-foot-11, 200-pound left-shot forward opened the month by scoring a goal and assisting on four others in a 7-3 home-ice victory over Nebraska-Omaha. He added two more assists as the Falcons completed a sweep the following evening and was recognized as the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week on Nov. 7.

Altogether, Foster registered points in seven-of-eight games during the month with six multi-point efforts that also included a two-goal, two-assist performance in an 8-4 win over Northern Michigan.

Foster, whose father, Dwight, spent 10 seasons in the NHL and whose older brother, Peter, is a junior netminder at Air Force, heads into December on a five-game point streak in which he’s produced 3-8-11. He also ranks first in CCHA overall scoring with a 5-19-24 chart and first in conference scoring with 5-16-21 totals.

Foster is the first BGSU player honored in the three-year history of the RBC Financial Group CCHA Player of the Month award.

Special mention for RBC Financial Group CCHA Player of the Month honors goes to Ohio State senior goalie Dave Caruso, Miami sophomore goalie Charlie Effinger, Michigan junior forward T.J. Hensick, Ferris State senior forward Greg Rallo, Nebraska-Omaha junior forward Scott Parse (Portage native) and Western Michigan senior forward Brent Walton.

2005-06 RBC Financial Group Players of the Month
November - Alex Foster, SO, F, Bowling Green
October - Bill Zaniboni, SO, G, Northern Michigan

DiPietro earns weekly CHA honor

Wayne State freshman forward Lindsay DiPietro has been named the College Hockey America Rookie of the Week.

After being held scoreless in Friday’s 3-2 win over St. Cloud State, DiPietro record her second three-point game in her last three outings in Saturday’s 4-3 victory.

In Saturday’s win, she set up the game’s first goal as the Lakers took a 1-0 lead just two minutes, 10 seconds into the game. Her second-period goal tied the score at 2-2 and she assisted on a power-play goal, 1:16 into the final period, which gave Wayne State the lead for good.

In her last four games, DiPietro has record two assists three times and has eight points along with a plus/minus rating of +4.

The Warriors (6-8-2) will get a week off then travel to New Jersey next weekend for a pair of games against the 7th-ranked Princeton Tigers at the Hobey Baker Rink.

ACHA Weekend Round-Up, Nov. 28

It was a quite holiday weekend for most of the state’s ACHA teams, but hockey fans could still give thanks for the on-ice action at the annual East-West Showcase hosted this year at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

The 9th ranked Penn State Icers dominated the weekend by sweeping their three games with a combined 23-5 scoring edge. Friday night the Icers opened up with an 8-3 win over #17 Eastern Michigan. Saturday, Paul Mammola (pictured above) and the Icers blanked the 7th ranked and host UM-D Wolves, 9-0. Then Sunday, the Icers completed a nearly flawless weekend with a 6-2 drubbing of the Western Michigan Stallions.

East-West Showcase Scoreboard

Friday
#4 Penn State 8, #17 Eastern Michigan 3
#7 MICHIGAN-DEARBORN 9, #14 West Chester 6
#8 Lindenwood 4, Western Michigan

Saturday
#4 Penn State 9, #7 MICHIGAN-DEARBORN 0
#8 Lindenwood 8, #17 Eastern Michigan 5
Western Michigan 10, #14 West Chester 3

Sunday
#4 Penn State 6, Western Michigan 2
#8 Lindenwood 6, #7 MICHIGAN-DEARBORN 3
#14 West Chester 6, #17 Eastern Michigan 6 (OT)

photo courtesy of http://www.pennstatehockey.com/

Ferris, Rallo sweep Mercyhurst on the road

The Ferris State Bulldogs swept Mercyhurst last weekend, winning 6-3 on Friday and 5-4 on Saturday. Greg Rallo (pictured), who was named the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week, had three goals and two assists over the course of the weekend.

The first period of Friday’s contest was a goalie showcase. Bulldogs goalie Derek MacIntyre turned away eleven shots and let in only one; the Ferris offense peppered Mercyhurst goalie with fifteen shots to no avail. It wasn’t until the second stanza that the lamp began lighting with greater frequency: Rallo evened the score for Ferris (Mark Bomersback and Dan Riedel assisted), but Mercyhurst pulled ahead again less than a minute later. Eric Vesely scored an unassisted shorthanded goal at 12:35 of the second period, and then set Jeremy Scherlinck a few minutes later to give Ferris their first lead of the night. Mercyhurst again tied up the game at the end of the period, and the goalies once again did their jobs flawlessly for the first half of the third period.

At 13:02 of the third period, Matt Frank scored the first of three unanswered Bulldogs goals. It was Frank’s first of the season, and came unassisted while the Bulldogs were shorthanded. Three minutes later, Rallo and Riedel set up Bomersback to widen the lead. Mercyhurst pulled their goalie to try to catch Ferris, but Bomersback slid a pass to Riedel, who capitalized on the empty net. The victory was sealed, 6-3, for Ferris.

Saturday saw Ferris jump to an early lead, fall behind, but catch back up to win 5-4.

The Bulldogs nailed three straight goals in the first period: Vesely set up Matt Stephanishion, Rallo scored Ferris’s third shorthanded goal of the weekend (Bomersback assisted), and Corey Couturier got some help from Adam Miller and Zac Pearson to put the Bulldogs up by three. But the second period belonged entirely to Mercyhurst; the team beat Ferris goalie Mitch O’Keefe three times to tie the score heading into the second intermission.

Mercyhurst scored again early in the third, though Ferris dominated the play, outshooting Mercyhurst 18-7 in the third period. But it wasn’t until a power-play opportunity at 13:35 of the third that Ferris could get back in the game: Rallo and Riedel set up Stephanishion for his second goal of the game. Rallo notched the game-winner off a Bomersback assist with less than two minutes remaining.

Ferris will be on the road again this week: they will face off against Nebraska-Omaha on Friday and Sunday.

Western earns only one point in Colgate series

The Western Michigan Broncos traveled to Colgate last weekend for some non-conference action against a team ranked #15. The Broncos held the Big Red to a 2-2 tie on Friday, but were edged for a 4-3 loss on Saturday.

On Friday, Colgate scored a power-play goal early in the first period. Bronco goalie Daniel Bellissimo remained steadfast; he turned away a combined 17 shots in the first two periods, and gave Brent Walton (pictured above) an opportunity to tie the game off assists from Brian Bicek and Daryl Moore.

Paul Szczechura scored early in the third to give the Broncos a lead, but midway through the period, Colgate--which peppered Bellissimo with 14 shots in the third period--scored to even the game. Neither team scored in overtime.

Bellissimo finished with 31 saves.

Coach Jim Culhane was satisfied with the Broncos' performance: "This is the second straight game where we have played well on the road. We tied MSU last week and I was pleased with our effort tonight. I thought we played with discipline, taking only five minor penalties in a tough environment on the road.

The Broncos also held the Big Red to a close contest on Saturday. Action was back-and-forth for much of the night: Szczechura, with help from Walton and Mike Erickson lit the lamp first on a power play effort late in the first stanza, but Colgate quickly retaliated at the start of the second period.

Walton regained the lead with an unassisted shorthanded goal, but Colgate evened the game again on a power-play tally.

Sean Weaver again put the Broncos up to start the third period (Moore and Szczechura earned assists), but with less than four minutes remaining in regulation, Colgate scored to send the contest to overtime, where they scored in twenty seconds.

Bellissimo had 28 saves in Saturday's game.

Western faces Notre Dame in a home-and-home series this weekend.

WSU women sweep St. Cloud

The Wayne State Warriors (6-8-2) edged St. Cloud State (3-10-1) twice--beating them 3-2 on Friday and 4-3 on Saturday--to earn their second consecutive home sweep.

A few new faces contributed to Friday's victory: after the Huskies took an early lead, freshman Amanda Hungle got some help from Laura
Monk and Sam Poyton to tie the game on her first goal of the season.

Poyton notched her 10th goal of the year off a Monk assist to put the Warriors ahead at the start of the second period. She scored just thirteen seconds into the period; she set a school record for the fastest goal to begin any period.

The Huskies made it a 2-2 game at 6:40 of the third. The Warriors retaliated less than two minutes later--but not from any of the usual suspects. Senior Jessica Haydahl set up sophomore Kristy Leng (pictured) for Leng's first goal of the season. The 3-2 score stood.

Wayne State goalie Valery Turcotte finished with 22 saves.

In Saturday's game, Melissa Boal gave the Warriors an early lead--Lindsay DiPietro and Sarah Campbell were credited with assists--but the Huskies scored twice before the end of the first period to go up 2-1. Boal set up DiPietro for the Warriors' second goal at 4:12 of the second period, and Turcotte turned away all seven of St. Cloud's second period shots.

Sam Poyton scored twice within the first five minutes of the third period to put the Warriors ahead. Boal and DiPietro assisted on her first goal; Monk and Peyton Patterson were credited on her second goal. Though it's only late November, Poyton has already set the school's all-time record for goals in a single-season by a rookie.

Despite pulling goalie Lauri St. Jacques late in the third period, the Huskies could not retaliate in time. They scored with one second left in regulation to make the score 4-3, but the Warriors dominated the final second and retained the victory.

Turcotte finished Saturday's contest with 20 saves.

The Warriors have this weekend off; they travel to Princeton December 9-10.

Finlandia men fall, FU women win both

The Finlandia men's team (2-4-0, 2-2-0 MCHA) dropped both games over the weekend to Hamline and Wisconsin-Stout.

Friday evening, the Lions got 21 saves from goalie Joe Juntilla and a goal from Steve Piccoli, but a goal with 2:39 left in the game gave Hamline the win.

The next night, Joe Lewis and Brad Van Tassel scored for FU, but Wisconsin-Stout came away with a 5-2 victory. Juntilla made 33 saves.

Finlandia travels to Lawrence this weekend.

Meanwhile, the Finlandia women (6-3-1, 0-2-0 NCHA) beat both Concordia and Hamline by identical 3-2 scores.

The FU women are at Wisconsin-Superior this weekend.

Spartans fall to Wisconsin, tie Gophers

Michigan State fared a bit better than Michigan at the College Hockey Showcase as the Spartans (5-6-4, 2-4-3 CCHA) lost to Wisconsin Friday night, but tied Minnesota the following night in a pair of games at Munn Ice Arena.

"I thought it was really good how we battled back tonight, we definitely leave the building feeling better about ourselves," MSU head coach Rick Comley said after the Minnesota stalemate. "Through this whole stretch, I think the effort has been there and I was encouraged by how we played with top 10 teams both nights. I think we are starting to get our game back."

Friday night, junior captain Drew Miller scored in the final second of the first period before Wisconsin roared back with three goals in the second half of the third period for a 3-1 win. Jeff Lerg made 18 saves in the loss. Wisconsin captain Adam Burish, like he did against Michigan, came up with the game-winner.

"That's a tough team to play against," Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said. "We don't play against another team like that in our conference. They trap and it's tough play against. There's no space, there's no time, you turn the puck over, and it's a slugfest."

"A couple of guys stepped up in the locker room after the game and said they were sick of this, we haven't won in seven or eight games," MSU forward Chris Mueller (pictured above) said. "I think it is time for everyone to look at themselves in the mirror. We played well for 40 or 50 minutes, we were energetic. Then for 10 minutes, they played desperate hockey and took it to us."

Against Minnesota, Dominic Vicari stopped 32 shots in the 2-2 tie that saw all four goals scored in the opening 20 minutes.

Tyler Howells and Tim Crowder potted MSU's goals with Howells' proving to be the game-tying goal at 15:29 of the opening period. Danny Irmen scored both for Minnesota while Phil Kessel picked up two assists.

"Everybody really stepped it up," Miller said. "Chris Mueller and the defensemen blocked some shots. Even the guys on the bench, they were yelling and being real positive. We worked really hard on that this week and to have that kind of success in a game like this is big for us."

The Spartans remain winless in their last eight contests (0-5-3), the longest such mark since the 1980-81 season. That year MSU dropped seven of eight contests, managing just one tie, during a late season span from Jan. 23, 1981 to Feb. 14. It was current athletic director Ron Mason's second season behind the Michigan State bench.

The Green and White return to action Friday when they play the front end of a home-and-home series with Bowling Green.

Mistake-prone Wolverines swept at Showcase

For the third straight season, Michigan was swept in the College Hockey Showcase.

Both nights at Yost Ice Arena, the Wolverines (9-3-1, 5-1-1 CCHA) first dropped a 6-3 decision to Minnesota Friday night and then fell, 3-2, Saturday night to Wisconsin.

"It is time for guys to take a peek in the mirror and start owning up," U-M senior captain Andrew Ebbett said. "They are not freshmen anymore, they have played 13 games, and even the upperclassmen need to take it upon ourselves and stop pointing fingers. We have had a good first 11 games and now we know what it is like against the rest of the country, with two top-five teams right there. It is time to wake up and get back to basics."

Friday night, Michigan allowed five power-play goals as the Golden Gophers went 5-for-9 on the power play, while the Wolverines were just 1-for-11. U-M was led by T.J. Hensick, who notched one goal and two assists, and Matt Hunwick and Brandon Naurato chipped in one goal apiece. Billy Sauer played 44:18, gave up all six Minnesota goals, but did stop 18 shots. Noah Ruden mopped up and made 10 saves in 15:33 of work.

"I can't tell you that it was tic-tac-toe and we had no chance against them," Michigan head coach Red Berenson said. "I think we gave up some goals that we shouldn't have given up. We got some bounces that didn't help us, and we didn't do as good of a job as they did on special teams."

Then Saturday night in a battle of No. 1 against No. 2, goals by Tim Miller and Naurato pulled Michigan into a 2-2 tie, but Badgers captain Adam Burish scored with 1:58 to play for a 3-2 triumph.

Ruden finished with 24 saves.

"Well, mistakes cost us, obviously," noted Berenson. "Positioning on the last goal, giveaway on the first goal or second goal, and obviously we weren't matching the pace of the game, the work ethic in the game. I mean, you're not going to beat anybody with 11 shots in two periods against a 95 percent goalie. I think we got a wakeup call this weekend and we need to take advantage of it."

Michigan travels to Oxford, Ohio, Friday and Saturday to take on CCHA leader Miami (Ohio).

Photo by Amir Gamzu, © Wolverine Photo