Monday, February 04, 2008

Wayne sweeps Niagara, extends winning streak

By Susannah Nichols/ WSU Women's Beat Writer

With a pair of road wins over Niagara, the Wayne State Warriors extended their school-record winning streak to eight games.

Senior goaltender Valery Turcotte (pictured) extended a streak of her own: after shutting out Niagara on Saturday for the 4-0 win and recording 24 saves in Sunday's 4-3 victory, she is unbeaten in her last nine consecutive starts.

Amanda Hungle started the scoring in Saturday's game; she tallied her first goal of the season with some help from captain Ashley King and Becky Sonn. Early in the second period, Sam Poyton scored her 25th of the season off assists by Katrina Protopapas and Lindsay DiPietro.

The Warriors fought off an impressive offensive effort by Niagara in the second stanza--Turcotte recorded 17 of her 32 saves in the middle twenty minutes.

Protopapas and Poyton combined to help DiPietro put the Warriors up by three in the third period, and Protopapas notched a goal of her own (assisted by DiPietro and Poyton) in the waning minutes.

Niagara was out for vengeance in Sunday's rematch, and took a 2-0 lead off a pair of goals by Ashley Riggs. Poyton responded in the second period with a pair of goals of her own, and Protopapas added a third to give the Warriors their first lead of the game.

In the third period, Christine Jefferson (who also assisted on one of Poyton's earlier goals) and Melissa Boal set up Poyton for a breakaway goal that sealed her hat trick--the third of her career.

Niagara scored again to come within a goal of Wayne State, but the Warriors held off their offensive attempts and preserved the 4-3 score.

DiPietro also recorded a pair of assists in Saturday's game, bringing her season total to an impressive 40.

The Warriors, now 16-6-2 and 4-0-0 in the CHA, continue their conference play next weekend, when they face Mercyhurst on the road.

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