Beavers take two from WSU

by Karl Henkel/Wayne State Men's Beat Writer

Eight goals in a two-game series is usually enough to come out with at least one win. But against the high-powered offense of Bemidji State, the Wayne State Warriors came out with something they've become all to familiar with – a sweep - this time, at the hands of the Beavers.

After BSU jumped out to a couple of two-goal leads, the Warriors scored three second-period goals in just over six minutes to take a 4-3 lead heading into the final frame.

Bemidji State's Blaine Jarvis tied the score 6:12 into the third, but a Derek Punches power-play goal put WSU back on top, but not for very long.

Matt Francis re-tied the score at the 11:37 mark, before Riley Weselowski scored the eventual game-winner, albeit in disputed fashion.

“It was four feet offsides,” WSU head coach Bill Wilkinson said of the winning goal. "The referee just didn't make the right call.”

Matt Pope's empty-netter sealed the 7-5 Beaver victory, improving their head-to-head record against the Warriors to 3-2-0.

Wayne State wasted a three-point effort from senior Stavros Paskaris and two-assist nights from Jeff Caister and Derek Bachynski.

Game two tried to live up to the high-scoring fiasco of the previous night, and it didn't dissapoint.

Jared Katz and Bachynski scored first-period tallies, but BSU had two of their own, and the score remained tied after 20 minutes.

The second period was the start of the 'Ryan Cramer Show' as the Beaver forward lit the lamp twice in a five-minute span, putting Bemidji state up, 4-2.

Punches added a late third period marker, but by that time the lead was three, with BSU going on victorious, 5-3. The win also clinched the CHA regular season title for Bemidji State.

“With a break here and there, we could have won both those games,” Wilkinson added.

Wayne State (9-23-2, 5-13-0 CHA) returns home to the Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum for one final time this weekend to take on the Niagara Purple Eagles (19-9-4, 11-5-2), who are 4-0-0 against the Warriors this year. Both games (Friday and Saturday) start at 7:05, with the latter being Senior Night, as WSU sends off four of its finest in forwards Bachynski, Paskaris, captain Mike Forgie and Tylor Michel.