Monday, February 13, 2006

Warriors earn one point against Mercyhurst

The Wayne State women's team faced a challenge in CHA rival Mercyhurst. While the Warriors lost 4-2 on Friday, they skated to a 2-2 tie Saturday. Their record now stands at 10-13-5 overall and 2-2-2 in the CHA.

Mercyhurst struck first in Friday's contest, but freshman Sam Poyton (pictured) was quick to retaliate. Picking up a pass from Amanda Hungle, Poyton netted her 20th of the season.

Mercyhurst regained the lead at 6:47 of the second period, and it took a power play for the Warriors to secure the tie again. This time, Peyton Patterson and Danielle Wilson set up Melissa Boal for a top-shelf goal. The teams stayed even through the second intermission.

Mercyhurst seized the lead for good early in the third, and put the game away with a late-period goal at 18:28. Coach Jim Fetter pulled goaltender Tiffany Thompson with just under a minute remaining, but the score did not change.

Thompson finished with 34 saves.

The Warriors looked to even the series on Saturday, and looked to have the mission accomplished. They held a 2-1 lead with three minutes remaining in the game, but a late-game strike by Mercyhurst sent the game to overtime.

Once again, Poyton and Boal were critical offensive factors in the game. Poyton scored the Warriors' first goal of the night late in the first period, her 21st of the year and school record. Hungle and Laura Monk earned assists on the play. And early in the second, Boal notched a power-play tally with some help from Sarah Campbell and Tina Vanderhoeven that looked to be the go-ahead goal. But Mercyhurst outshot Wayne State 11-6 in the third period, and one of the shots snuck past Valery Turcotte at 17:42 of the third.

Overtime would be fruitless for both teams.

Turcotte stopped 33 shots, including four in overtime, in Saturday's contest.

The Warriors continue CHA action next weekend as they face Niagara on Friday and Saturday at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum. Both games begin at 4:05 and are part of double-headers with the men's team, who play Niagara at 7:05 both nights.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wayne should have won on Saturday. They had the game wrapped up. It was difficult to stomach after Mercyhurst scored so late. A rematch in the CHA Title match at the Coliseum would be sweet.