WSU Sweeps Findlay Series
To Remain In First Place In CHA

The Wayne State University men's hockey team maintained its share of first place in College Hockey America with a 4-3 victory at Findlay Saturday night (Feb.2).

The Warriors improve to 12-11-3 overall and 8-2-2 in CHA, while the Oilers fall to 10-14-2 overall and 4-7-1 in CHA.

After a scoreless first period which saw 27 shots on goal (16 by WSU and 11 by UF), Warrior freshman left wing Nathan Rosychuk (Athabasca, ALB/Grande Prairie Storm) scored just 35 seconds into the middle stanza during a Wayne State power play. Rosychuk's seventh of the campaign was assisted by Dusty Kingston (Spencerville, ONT/Brockville Braves) and Tyler Kindle (Portage, MI/Bozeman Ice Dogs).

Sophomore Chris Vail (Grosse Pointe Farms, MI/Vernon Vipers) increased WSU's lead to 2-0 when he scored at the 11:03 mark of the second period off an assist from Jack Redwood (Trenton, MI/Compuware Ambassadors). It was Vail's third goal of the weekend.

Defenseman Marc St. Jean (Orleans, ONT/Hawkesbury Hawks) scored his third of the year at the 14:39 mark after his initial shot hit the post and caroomed back to him. Redwood and Vail combined to set up St. Jean.

Findlay's Lee Arnold scored 21 seconds after St. Jean's goal to cut the Warrior lead to two goals at 3-1.

Junior Jon Brink (Portage, MI/West Michigan Warriors) scored at 2:47 of the third period for what ultimately proved to be the game-winning goal. Brink's seventh of the season was assisted by Kingston and Jason Durbin (Trenton, MI/Danville Wings).

The Oilers final two goals came at 15:14 (short-handed by Nick Udovicic) and 19:31 (extra attacker by Jason Maxwell).

"These two wins were an excellent start for the stretch drive as we strive for first place," said WSU head coach Bill Wilkinson.

Wayne State netminder David Guerrera (St. Leonard, QUE/Estevan Bruins) had 28 saves, including 11 in both the first and third periods. Findlay goaltender Kevin Fines turned aside 41 Warrior shots including a game-high 17 in the third period.

WSU went one-for-three with the man-advantage and killed all six Oiler power-play opportunities.

"We need all four lines contributing," said Wilkinson. "Our special teams played well this weekend and the Vail-Starchenko-Redwood played solid with a lot more intensity."

The Warriors will take their 5-0-0 CHA road mark to Niagara for a pair of league games next weekend.

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Wayne State Skates Past Findlay, 4-2

The Wayne State University men's hockey team snapped its three-game losing streak with a 4-2 College Hockey America victory over visiting Findlay Friday night (Feb. 1) at the Great Lakes Sports City Arena in Fraser, Michigan.

The Warriors scored the only goal of the first period despite outshooting Findlay 13-7. Tyler Kindle's (Portage, MI/Bozeman Icedogs) shot from along the left boards beat Oiler netminder Jamie VandeSpyker. Kindle's eighth of the campaign was assisted by Reegan Rehm (Park Rapids, MN/Butte H.S.) and Steve Nichols (Washington, MI/Chicago Freeze).

Kindle now has two goals in the last four games, while the helper was the first for both Rehm and Nichols since Dec. 7 against Alabama-Huntsville.

"It was a good start after a long layoff," said WSU head coach Bill Wilkinson. "We only had two practices and no practice on Thursday due to the weather."

Sophomore Chris Vail

WSU increased its lead to 2-0 at the 15:52 mark of the middle stanza as Chris Vail (Grosse Pointe Farms, MI/Vernon Vipers) netted his third of the season off assists from Jack Redwood (Trenton, MI/Compuware Ambassadors) and Maxim Starchenko (Kharkov, Ukraine/Powell River Kings).

The lamp-lighter was Vail's first since Dec. 29 at Alabama-Huntsville, while Redwood garnered his first point in the last five contests.

"It was good to see the Vail-Starchenko-Redwood line score. They have been working hard but coming up dry. Tonight they scored two goals for us," added Wilkinson.

Findlay's Rigel Shaw scored his 10th of the season just 31 seconds later from Andy Croak and Steve Traver.

WSU held the advantage in second period shots on goal 19-12.

Vail scored his second of the contest 1:39 into the third period off an assist from Starchenko. Freshman Nathan Rosychuk (Athabasca, ALB/Grande Prairie Storm) scored his sixth of the year during a WSU power play from Starchenko and Kindle at 8:18.

Starchenko had three assists in the contest marking the second time this season he had three helpers in a game (other time was Dec. 28 at Alabama-Huntsville).

Warrior goaltender David Guerrera (St. Leonard, QUE/Estevan Bruins) made a spectacular save just 19 seconds after Rosychuk's goal when he went post-to-post to rob Findlay's Chris Wyzgowski.

Shaw scored his second of the game with 3:38 remaining to cut WSU's lead to 4-2.

"It was nice to win a game when we didn't have to rely on our No. 1 line," commented Wilkinson.

Guerrera finished the contest with 28 saves, while VandeSpyker made 40 stops. WSU went one-for-three with the man-advantage, while stopping all three Oiler power-play opportunities.

With the victory, Wayne State improves to 11-11-3 overall and 7-2-2 in the CHA. Findlay is now 10-13-2 overall and 4-6-1 in the CHA.

The teams conclude the weekend series with a 7:05 p.m. face-off Saturday, Feb. 2 in Findlay.