Warriors Sweep Lakers With 3-2 Victory

Fraser, Mich. – The Wayne State University men's hockey team extended its unbeaten streak to seven games (5-0-2) with a 3-2 triumph over visiting Lake Superior State Saturday night (Jan. 5) at the Great Lakes Sports City Arena.

Lake Superior took a 1-0 lead with 36 seconds remaining in the first period when Jeremy Bachusz netted his own rebound on a two-man advantage. Adam Nightingale earned the lone assist on Bachusz's third goal of the season.

The Warriors rebounded in the middle stanza with three goals in a span of 6:40.

Marc St. Jean (Orleans, ONT/Hawkesbury Hawks) scored a power-play goal at 12:14. St. Jean's second of the season was assisted by Jack Redwood (Trenton, MI/Compuware Ambassadors) and Maxim Starchenko (Kharkov, Ukraine/Powell River Kings).

Billy Collins (Enderby, B.C./Prince George Spruce Kings) broke the tie with his lamp-lighter at 14:34. Collins' fifth of the campaign came as he buried the rebound of a Nathan Rosychuk (Athabasca, ALB/Grande Prairie Storm) shot.

Junior captain Jason Durbin (Trenton, MI/Danville Wings) scored his 10th of the year with 1:06 remaining in the second period off assists from Redwood and Dave Noble (Pocasset, MA/Bridgewater Bandits).

Laker coach Frank Anzalone made a bold move when he pulled goaltender Matt Violin at 9:43 of the third period to give his team an extra skater. The Lakers were unable to score during the four times Violin was pulled (for a total of 4:22).

The Lakers, however, pulled within one goal at 3-2 when Adam Nightingale beat WSU goalie Dave Guerrera to a loose puck in the Warrior zone and fired the biscuit into an empty net.

Guerrera finished with 32 saves, with Violin being credited with 27 stops. LSSU went one-for-10 with the man-advantage, while the Warriors scored on one of their seven power-play chances.

Wayne State improves to 9-8-3 overall, while the Lakers fall to 6-14-0.

The Warriors resume College Hockey America action next weekend when the Air Force Falcons travel to Detroit for a two-game series. Faceoff both nights is 7:05 p.m. at the Great Lakes Sports City Arena in Fraser.

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Wayne State Downs Lake Superior, 4-2

The Wayne State University men's hockey team recorded its first win over a Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) team with a 4-2 victory over Lake Superior Friday night (Jan. 4) at the Great Lakes Sports City Arena in Fraser.

The Warriors, who had been 0-10-2 in 12 previous contests against CCHA member schools, rallied from a 2-0 deficit after the opening 20 minutes scoring once in the middle stanza and three times in the third period.

The Lakers took an early 1-0 lead when Aaron Davis scored a power-play goal just 5:13 into the match. His fourth of the season was assisted by Barry Pochmara and Chris McNamara.

LSSU increased its lead to 2-0 when Bo Cheesman scored a four-on-four goal with 14 seconds left in the first period. Cheesman's shot which went into the top shelf was his second of the season.

Junior left wing Dusty Kingston (Spencerville, ONT/Brockville Braves) scored on a shot from the top left faceoff circle with 2:29 remaining in the middle stanza. Kingston's team-leading 10th of the year was assisted by Jason Durbin (Trenton, MI/Danville Wings) and Jack Redwood (Trenton, MI/Compuware Ambassadors).

Redwood tied the game at two with his fifth of the season at the nine minute mark during a scramble outside the LSSU crease. Redwood's lamp-lighter was assisted by Kingston and Keith Stanich (Bethel Park, PA/Waterloo Black Hawks).

The Warriors grabbed their first lead of the game when Durbin scored short-handed with 7:15 left in the third period. Durbin's rebound goal came after Kingston's shot was stopped by Laker netminder Terry Denike. Stanich earned his second assist of the night as he started the scoring play.

Redwood completed the scoring with an empty-net marker with 56 seconds remaining. LSSU won an offensive zone faceoff but a pass back to the blueline eluded the Laker blueliner and Redwood gathered the puck in the neutral zone and went in and scored his sixth of the campaign.

WSU goaltender Brett Leone (Howell, MI) making his first start of the season turned aside 12 of LSSU's 14 shots. Six of the Lakers shots came during their seven power-play opportunities. Denike was credited with 20 saves in the Laker cage. WSU went zero-for-four with the man-advantage, while LSSU scored on one of its seven chances.

Wayne State is now 8-8-3 overall, while LSSU falls to 6-13-0. The teams complete the weekend set with a 7 p.m. faceoff Saturday, Jan. 5 in Fraser.