Warriors battle to third-place Badger finish

The Wayne State Warriors recent resurgence was on display over the weekend as they put together a solid effort and came away with a third-place finish at the Badger Showdown in Madison, WI. After starting the season 0-8-2, the Green and Gold have won four of their last six contests to improve to 4-10-2 (1-4-1 CHA) on the year.

Friday- Wayne State’s short two-game winning streak was halted in the Showdown opener as they dropped a 6-2 decision to the Northern Michigan Wildcats.

The ‘Cats dominated play for most of the game, out shooting their in-state rivals 43-24.

Northern’s second line of Pat Bateman, Mike Santorelli, and Darin Olver each scored a goal and two assists while Derek Janzen steered aside 22 shots for the win.

Jason Bloomingburg and Nate Higgins (pictured) each scored power-play goals for the Warriors. Will Hooper was peppered in net and stopped 37 blasts in a losing effort.

Northern’s win moved them into the Showdown’s championship game against host Wisconsin, who dismantled Western Michigan 4-1 in Friday’s late game.

Wayne State loss regulated them to Saturday’s consolation game against Western.

Saturday- After seven years at Wayne State, head coach Bill Wilkinson finally got a chance face his old team on Saturday and made the best of it as the Warriors doubled up the Broncos 6-3.

Wilkinson had a brilliant 17 year career at Western, coaching the team to over 300 wins, a CCHA Tournament Championship and 3 NCAA Tournament berths.

The Warriors worked hard for their coach in the consolation game using markers by Bloomingburg, Jon Grabarek, Higgins, and Matt Krug to jump out to a 4-0 lead by 7:57 of the second period.

Daryl Moore and Paul Szczechura scored for Western before the period was out to cut the Wayne State lead in half.

Higgins scored his second of the night and third of the Showdown at 6:45 of the third to put the Warriors back up by three goals.

With the extra attacker on, the Broncos got a goal from their leader Brent Walton at 17:10 to make it a 5-3 game.

The Warriors iced the game and locked up third-place with just 3 ticks left on the clock when Adam Krug scored his second of the season.

Senior Matt Kelly started in net for the Warriors at stopped 21 of 24 shots to pull his personal mark up to 3-4-2 on the year.

Daniel Bellissimo dropped to 4-10-3 after surrendering 5 goals on 27 shots.

Wayne State moves to begin an arduous four-game road trip, starting with two non-conference battles against the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing next weekend.

Western returns to CCHA play with the pair of games “up north” against the Lake Superior State Lakers next Friday and Saturday.

Badger Showdown Championship Game- The host Wisconsin Badgers had little trouble in capturing their ninth tournament crown as they cruised past the NMU Wildcats 5-1. in Saturday's late game.

Nathan Oystrick scored the ‘Cats lone goal and Bill Zaniboni stopped 37 shots in the loss.

Northern returns to the ice next weekend with two games against the CCHA conference leading Miami RedHawks at the Goggin Arena in Oxford, Ohio.

2005 Badger Hockey Showdown All-Tournament Team

Forwards:

Nate Higgins, Wayne State

Joe Pavelski, Wisconsin

Mike Santorelli, Northern Michigan

Defensemen:

Nathan Oystrick, Northern Michigan

Jeff Likens, Wisconsin

Goalie:

Brian Elliott, Wisconsin

Tournament MVP:

Brian Elliott, Wisconsin