Warriors cook up third place at Nutmeg

by Tom Balog/Wayne State Beat Writer

The Wayne State Warriors' six-game winning streak came to an abrupt halt over the weekend at the Nutmeg Classic in Storrs, Conn.

The Warriors surrendered three second-period goals on Friday night and fell to the host UConn Huskies, 5-4.

Sam Poyton opened the scoring at 3:24 of the first period with her team-high 14th goal of the season, but the Huskies added a late Dominique Thibault marker to tie the score at one.

Jennifer Chaisson made it 2-1 UConn at 8:09 of the second. Just over two and a half minutes later, Chelsea Burnett scored an unassisted goal to knot up the score again.

The Huskies wasted no time in grabbing the lead back for good as Nicole Tritter scored just 17 seconds later and Monique Weber added a power-play goal at 14:58 to give the Huskies a two-goal edge.

Melissa Boal cut the lead with a power-play tally less than a minute into the third period.

Thibault scored her second of the night at 4:17 and although WSU added an Alyssa Baldin extra-man tally at 12:08, it wasn't enough to close the gap.

Delayne Brian started in net for the Green and Gold and stopped 23 of 28 shots.

Jennie Bellonio turned away 25 of 29 shots as the Huskies advanced to the title game.

The Warriors got back into the win column less than 24 hours later as they downed the Quinnipiac Bobcats, 3-2, in the third-place game.

Natalie Payne opened the scoring with her third of the season on the power play at 5:09 of the opening period. In just 14 games since her transfer from Mercyhurst, Payne leads all WSU blueliners with three goals and 11 assists for 14 points.

Kallie Flor tied it up for QU late in the first, but Lindsay DiPietro scored early in the second to put the Warriors back up by a goal.

Once again Quinnipiac added a late goal, this time off the stick of Janine Duffy, to make it a 2-2 game.

Baldin buried her eighth of the season on the power play at 6:39 of the third period and that turned out to be the game-winner for WSU. For Baldin, it was her third-game winner of the year, which ties Poyton for the team lead.

Freshman defenseman Jill Szandzik assisted on both of WSU's power-play goals.

Lindsey Park (pictured) made her first start since October 25 against Colgate and stopped 19 shots for her third win of the season.

Nanna Holm-Glaas steered aside 18 shots for QU.

Wayne State will stay on the road and play its final series of 2008 next weekend, Dec. 5-6, at CHA rival Niagara.

ICE CHIPS...

- Melissa Boal's goal on Friday night put her into the top 10 all-time in NCAA history with 185 points.

- Wayne State's senior forwards, Melissa Boal and Sam Poyton, have 99 and 98 goals, respectively, for their careers and are on the verge of becoming the fifth and sixth players in NCAA history to reach the 100-goal mark.

- Lindsay DiPietro's two helpers Friday increased her career total to 116 and moved her into eighth place on the NCAA all-time assists list.

- The UConn Huskies defeated the Yale Bulldogs, 3-2, in the Nutmeg Classic Championship game on Saturday night.

Photo courtesy of WSU Athletics