Warriors Blank Oilers
For Sixth Straight Win

The Wayne State University men’s hockey team won its sixth consecutive game on Saturday (Feb. 16) as the Warriors blanked visiting Findlay, 6-0, in a College Hockey America contest in Fraser, Michigan.

WSU is alone in first place in CHA with a 12-2-2 league mark and four games remaining in the regular season. The Warriors are now 16-11-3 overall, while Findlay falls to 10-18-2 overall and 4-11-1 in CHA.

Junior goaltender David Guerrera (St. Leonard, QUE/Estevan Bruins) recorded his first shutout of the season by stopping all 22 Oiler shots. Thirteen of Findlay’s 22 shots came during their eight power-play attempts.

Freshman left wing Nathan Rosychuk (Athabasca, ALB/Grande Prairie Storm) scored the lone goal of the first period when he finished off an odd-man rush by flicking the puck over Findlay netminder Jamie VandeSpyker. Rosychuk’s ninth goal of the season was his seventh goal in the last 10 games. His fifth power-play goal of the season was assisted by Tyler Kindle (Portage, MI/Bozeman Icedogs) and Keith Stanich (Bethel Park, PA/Waterloo Black Hawks).

Chris Vail made it 2-0 at the 3:08 mark of the middle stanza as he scored for the sixth straight game. His ninth of the year was assisted by Kindle and Jack Redwood (Trenton, MI/Compuware Ambassadors).

Jason Durbin (Trenton, MI/Danville Wings) netted his third power-play goal of the weekend at the 13:51 mark. Durbin’s 13th of the campaign was set up by Rosychuk and Kindle.

Jon Brink (Portage, MI/West Michigan Warriors) scored his third goal in the last five games at the 17:09 mark of the second period. Stanich garnered the lone assist on Brink’s ninth of the season.

Redwood scored a four-on-four goal at 8:09 of the third period giving him three goals in the last four contests. Nick Stodgell (Warroad, MN/Des Moines Buccaneers), who snapped a 16-game pointless streak on Friday, had the lone assist on Redwood’s ninth of the year.

John Grubb (Burlington, ND/Waterloo Black Hawks) completed the scoring with his sixth of the campaign at the 12:18 mark. Maxim Starchenko (Kharkov, Ukraine/Powell River Kings) assisted on the Warriors third power-play goal of the game.

WSU scored its three man-advantage markers in nine opportunities, and stopped all six Findlay power-play chances.

Wayne State visits Bemidji State next Friday and Saturday (Feb. 22-23) for two important CHA contests. The Warriors are a perfect 8-0 in road CHA games this season.

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WSU Remains In First Place
With 5-2 Win At Findlay

The Wayne State University men's hockey remained in first place in College Hockey America with a 5-2 triumph at the University of Findlay on Friday night (Feb. 15).

The Warriors are now 15-11-3 overall and have a league mark of 11-2-2. The Oilers fall to 10-17-2 overall and 4-10-1 in CHA.

Wayne State outshot the hosts 16-8 in the opening period and led 2-0.

WSU junior center Maxim Starchenko (Kharkov, Ukraine/Powell River Kings) opened the scoring with a five-on-five marker just 4:44 into the contest. Starchenko's fourth of the campaign was assisted by Chris Vail (Grosse Pointe Farms, MI/Vernon Vipers).

The Warriors increased their lead to 2-0 when junior captain Jason Durbin (Trenton, MI/Danville Wings) scored a power-play goal at 14:58 of the first stanza. Durbin's 11th of the year was assisted by Nathan Rosychuk (Athabasca, ALB/Grande Prairie Storm) and Keith Stanich (Bethel Park, PA/Waterloo Black Hawks).

Findlay cut into the WSU lead when Andy Croak netted a man-advantage marker 56 seconds into the middle period. Durbin lit the lamp at the 8:18 mark for his second power-play goal of the contest. Durbin's 12th of the season was assisted by Rosychuk and Dusty Kingston (Spencerville, ONT/Brockville Braves).

The Oilers again cut the margin to one, at 3-2, when Russ Kelley scored during a two-man advantage with 5:41 remaining in the second stanza.

Wayne State upped its lead to two 49 seconds later when Chris Vail scored his eighth of the campaign off an assist from Carl Voelker (Sterling Hts., MI/St. Louis Sting).

Starchenko scored the only goal of the third period on a breakaway during a Findlay power play at the 10:06 mark. His fifth of the year was set up by a long pass from Nick Stodgell (Warroad, MN/Des Moines Buccaneers).

Wayne State had a season-high 51 shots on goal and went two-for-six with the man-advantage. Findlay had 34 shots on net and was also two for six on the power play.

Junior netminder David Guerrera (St. Leonard, QUE/Estevan Bruins) made 32 saves in the Wayne State cage, while Oiler goaltender Kevin Fines had 46 saves.

"We played a real strong road game," said Warrior head coach Bill Wilkinson. "Special teams played a critical part tonight as we were able to score two power-play goals plus a short-handed goal. Dave (Guerrera) was again strong in goal and Durbin and Starchenko each had two goals. Maxim (Starchenko) short-handed goal midway through the third period sealed the win."

The teams complete the weekend home-and-home series at 7:05 p.m. Saturday night (Feb. 16) in Fraser, Mich., at the Great Lakes Sports City Arena.