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Wayne State Upended By Air Force, 5-3 The Wayne State University men's hockey team had its school-record eight game unbeaten streak snapped with a 5-3 loss to visiting Air Force Saturday night (Jan. 12) at Great Lakes Sports City in Fraser. The Falcons scored just 55 seconds into the contest off a face-off play when Scott Zwiers won the draw to Andy Berg who beat Warrior goalie David Guerrera (St. Leonard, QUE/Estevan Bruins). WSU would pull even with 2:57 remaining in the opening stanza as junior defenseman Tyler Kindle (Portage, MI/Bozeman Icedogs) would net his seventh of the campaign during a Warrior power-play. Kindle's goal was assisted by freshman Billy Collins (Enderby, BC/Prince George Spruce Kings) and junior Dusty Kingston (Spencerville, ONT/Brockville Braves). WSU outshot the Falcons 16-4 in the opening period but the game was tied at one. Air Force would score the next two goals, both on power plays, with Zwiers scoring at 6:10 and 15:31 of the middle period for a 3-1 advantage after 40 minutes. Freshman Nathan Rosychuk (Athabasca, ALB/Grand Prairie Storm) cut the deficit to one when he scored his fourth of the season 2:12 into the third period. Rosychuk's second goal of the weekend was assisted by Keith Stanich (Bethel Park, PA/Waterloo Black Hawks) and Collins. The Falcons regained a two-goal cushion just 31 seconds later when Brian Rodgers tallied his ninth goal of the year. Wayne State fought back to within goal as Collins scored his sixth of the year, from Stanich, with 5:10 left in regulation. Collins finished the night with a career-high three points on one goal and two assists. Air Force's Kyle Fransdal sealed the win with a marker at 18:51 of the third period off a nice pass from Spanky Leonard. Mike Polidor made 32 saves for Air Force including 13 in the first period. Guerrera turned aside 27 shots in the Warriors cage including 16 in the second period when WSU was outshot 18-10. The Falcons scored on two of five power-play chances, while the Warriors scored once in five man-advantage opportunities. Wayne State falls to 10-9-3 overall and 6-2-2 in CHA, with Air Force improving to 10-10-0 overall and 1-7-0 in CHA. WSU will play its final non-league series on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 17-18, at Northern Michigan. Face-off both nights at the Berry Events Center in Marquette is slated for 7:05 p.m. The Wayne State University men's hockey team rallied in the third period and held on for a 4-3 win over visiting Air Force Friday night (Jan. 11) at the Great Lakes Sports City Arena in Fraser, Michigan. The Warriors, who trailed 2-1 after 40 minutes, scored twice in the first 2:09 of the third period to take a 3-2 lead. The Falcons tied the contest with a five-on-three power-play goal by Derek Olson (his second goal of the game) at 8:33 of the third stanza.
After a scoreless first period, John Grubb (Burlington, ND/Waterloo Black Hawks), a freshman right wing, scored his fourth goal of the season early in the second period off assists from Nathan Rosychuk (Athabasca, ALB/Grande Prairie Storm) and Billy Collins (Enderby, BC/Prince George Spruce Kings). All four of Grubb's lamp-lighters have come against Air Force (two on Nov. 2, and one on Nov. 3). The Falcons tied the game at one when Olson netted his first of the night at 6:28 of the middle period. USAFA took its first lead of the game at 16:58 of the second stanza when Spanky Leonard tallied unassisted. In the third period, WSU's Jon Brink (Portage, MI/West Michigan Warriors) scored just 13 seconds into the period when he flipped a rebound of a Nick Shrader (Blissfield, MI/Compuware Ambassadors) shot past Polidor. Maxim Starchenko (Kharkov, Ukraine/Powell River Kings) earned his sixth assist in the last five games by starting the scoring play on Brink's fifth of the season. All five of Brink's goals have been scored on Friday's. Rosychuk's third of the campaign was assisted by Grubb at 2:09. Wayne State was scoreless on seven power-play chances, and held the CHA's top man-advantage unit (28%) [and fourth best in the nation] to one goal in seven opportunities, with the lone Falcon power-play goal coming while Nick Stodgell and Keith Stanich were both in the penalty box. Junior netminder David Guerrera (St. Leonard, QUE/Estevan Bruins) made 12 saves in the Wayne State net, while Polidor was credited with 27 saves for Air Force. The Warriors improved their record when scoring first to 5-1-1 and extended their unbeaten streak to eight games (6-0-2). It was also Wayne State's second victory when trailing after two periods (WSU was 1-7-1 before tonight). WSU is now 10-8-3 overall and leads the CHA with 14 points (6-1-2). Air Force falls to 9-10 overall and 0-7 in the CHA. The teams conclude the regular-season series on Saturday with face-off slated for 7:05 p.m. in Fraser.  |
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