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 WAYNE STATE WINS
In a see-saw battle, WSU claimed a 5-4 overtime win over the University of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers Saturday night at Dwyer Arena in Niagara, New York. UAH led 1-0 after the first 20 minutes on a goal by Karlis Zirnis. The Warriors, who were outshot 9-6 in the first period, rebounded in the second stanza to outshoot UAH, 13-7. The second period saw five goals including three by Wayne State to tie the game heading into the third period. Junior center Jason Durbin (Trenton, MI/Danville Wings) tied the game at one with his 16th of the season at the 3:44 mark. Jon Brink (Portage, MI/West Michigan Warriors) garnered the lone assist. Billy Collins (Enderby, BC/Prince George Spruce Kings) put WSU in front 2-1 with his eighth of the campaign at the 5:20 mark. Marc St. Jean (Orleans, ONT/Hawkesbury Hawks) had the lone assist. The Warriors increased their lead to 3-1 when Tyler Kindle (Portage, MI/Bozeman Icedogs) tallied a short-handed goal at the 12:29 mark. Kindle back-handed his own rebound between his legs and just past Charger goalie Mark Byrne. UAH's Tyler Butler scored on a blast from the blueline during the same power play to make it a 3-2 contest. Craig Bushey tied the game with just eight seconds left in the second period. The Chargers regained the lead 4:16 into the third period when Ryan Leasa scored on a shot from the left point. Wayne State tied the game at four when Kindle's shot from the blueline bounced in off a Charger defenseman with just 1:13 left in regulation. In overtime, Durbin sent the puck down low to Brink who sent a cross-crease pass that Kingston was able to redirect past Byrne 9:12 into the extra session. Junior netminder David Guerrera (St. Leonard, QUE/Estevan Bruins) made 24 saves for Wayne State, while Mark Byrne had 39 saves for the Chargers. Byrne had four saves in overtime with Guerrera making three stops. The 2002 CHA Championship Most Valuable Player was Dustin Kingston. Selected to the All-Tournament Team from WSU were Jason Durbin and Tyler Kindle. Also named were Air Force forward Andy Berg, UAH forward Steve Charlebois, goalie Mark Byrne and defenseman Tyler Butler. The Warriors are now 21-11-4, while UAH finishes 18-18-1.
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Junior left wing Dustin Kingston (Spencerville, ONT/Brockville Braves) scored his second game-winner in as many nights to give the Wayne State Warriors the 2002 College Hockey America Championship title.
