Warriors cage Black Bears

For the current squad of the Wayne State women’s team, the past doesn’t mean a whole lot. The Warriors forgot all about an 0-8 all time mark against Maine as they handily swept the Black Bears in a two-game set at the City Sports Arena.

There’s still room for improvement, though, said WSU assistant coach Nicolette Frank after Saturday’s series clincher.

“We didn’t have three consistent periods and we’re trying to work towards that," Franck said. "We have come out aggressive against Quinnipiac (this weekend). Everyone is battling hard and playing well and we want to keep that up. Six good periods in a row is what we’re shooting for.”

Friday night, the Warriors got 12 saves from Val Turcotte and shutout the Bears, 5-0.

The game featured a little bit of everything including separate ejections to both team’s captains, an injured head referee and goals scored even strength, on the power play and shorthanded.

Newcomer Sammi Bowers, in just her third WSU game, started the scoring with the eventual game-winner on the power play at 12:03 of the second period.

Just under six minutes later, Sam Poyton scored an even-strength marker to put the Warriors up by a 2-0 score after 40 minutes of play.

Brandi Frakie scored her first of the year, shorthanded, at 13:42 of the third to widen the gap. Bowers and Poyton scored back-to-back again about two minutes later to close the night’s scoring.

WSU outshot the Black Bears, 39-12, for the game.

The shutout was the second of the year and seventh all-time for Turcotte.

The final score was closer in Saturday’s afternoon finale, but the Warriors still prevailed by a final of 4-3.

Wayne State’s power line scored all four goals with Lindsay DiPietro scoring the opener, Melissa Boal (pictured) the next two, and Poyton finishing it up by registering her third marker of the weekend.

Turcotte turned aside 21 of 24 shots to bump her season record to 5-4-1.

Wayne State (10-6-2 0-0-0 CHA) concludes its six-game homestand with the aforementioned series against Quinnipiac this weekend. The first game will be part of part of a double-header with the WSU men's team and will be played at the Taylor SportsPlex at 3:30 p.m. in Taylor, Mich. Game two is at 2:00 p.m. and will be played at the City Sports Center.

ICE CHIPS….

+ WSU head coach Jim Fetter missed the last two series against Minnesota and Maine as he helped guide Hockey Canada's Under-18 team to a silver medal at the IIHF World Women’s U18 Championships In Calgary.

+ Poyton (21-18—39) and Boal (22-16—38) rank second and third in the county in points.

+ DiPietro (6-29—35) is ranked first in the nation with 29 assists.

+ Since winning their opener on Sept. 29 against Sacred Heart, Maine (1-18-2) has gone winless in their last 20 games.