WSU Starts 2002-03 Season With A Bang

Maxim Starchenko

The Wayne State University men's hockey team (1-0) "officially" began its 2002-03 campaign with a 4-1 triumph over visiting St. Lawrence University (1-3-1) Friday night (Oct. 25) at the Great Lakes Sports City Arena in Fraser, Mich.

Following the pre-game ceremony honoring last year's College Hockey America's regular-season and tournament champions, the Warriors wasted little time in starting the new season with a bang.

Senior center Maxim Starchenko (Kharkov, Ukraine/Powell River Kings) scored a five-on-three power-play goal just 4:17 into the contest with senior defenseman Marc St. Jean (Orleans, Ont./Hawkesbury Hawks) and sophomore wing John Grubb (Burlington, N.D./Waterloo Black Hawks) garnering the assists.

WSU increased its lead to 2-0 midway through the opening stanza when senior right wing Jack Redwood (Trenton, Mich./Compuware Ambassadors) tallied his first of the season with Grubb earning his second assist of the game.

The Saints cut the deficit in half when Ziga Petac scored with 1:35 remaining in the first period. Blair Clarance recorded his fifth assist on the season on Petac's first goal of the year. Ryan Glenn also earned an assist on the lone SLU marker.

After a scoreless second period, the Warriors regained their two goal advantage as Starchenko lit the lamp for the second time in the game. Grubb and Redwood assisted on the play giving Grubb a three-assist game.

Redwood sealed the victory by scoring into an empty-net with 98 seconds left in the contest. Redwood also had a three-point night with two goals and one assist.

Senior netminder David Guerrera (St. Leonard, Que./Estevan Bruins) stopped 29 of 30 SLU shots, while Saint goaltender Mike McKenna turned aside 23 of 26 Warrior shots.

Wayne State scored one power-play goal in five chances, while St. Lawrence went zero-for-eight with the man-advantage.

The win extends Wayne State's unbeaten streak to 13 games (12-0-1) dating back to 4-1 loss at Northern Michigan on Jan. 18.

The teams conclude the weekend series with a 7:05 p.m. faceoff Saturday night (Oct. 26) in Fraser at the Great Lakes Sports City Arena.