March 1, 2007

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GAME STORYLINES
To close out the 2006-07 regular season, the Wayne State men's hockey team (10-20-2, 6-10-2 CHA) travels to Robert Morris (13-16-2, 9-8-1 CHA) for a weekend set. Both games are slated to begin at 7:35 p.m. ET. This is the second series between these squads this season and the first at RMU.

Wayne State, unbeaten in its last five games (3-0-2), defeated Bemidji State, 3-1, last Friday before skating to a 1-1 overtime tie on Saturday at the Coliseum.

Robert Morris, winless in its last four games, dropped a 7-3 decision to Niagara on Friday but scored twice in the third period of Saturday's contest to force a 3-3 overtime tie.

Wayne State, which can finish no higher than fourth in the CHA standings, will face Alabama-Huntsville next Thursday in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. Robert Morris, currently in third, can finish as high as first depending on the outcome of this weekend's games.

BEHIND THE BENCH
Bill Wilkinson is in his eighth season as Wayne State's head coach and his 25th year as a collegiate head coach. Wilkinson's overall record stands at 424-443-79, while his mark at WSU is 111-142-26.

RMU's Derek Schooley has spent his entire three-year head coaching career behind the Colonials' bench, posting a record of 33-57-9.

THROUGHOUT THE YEARS
Wayne State leads the all-time series, 5-2-3, including a pair of wins last month in Detroit. The Warriors are just 1-1-2, however, in the Island Sports Center.

IN THE POLLS
WSU was selected to finish fifth in the College Hockey America preseason coaches poll, while Robert Morris was tabbed for third.

ON THIS DATE
Wayne State has played two games on March 2 in its history, both of which were against Niagara. The Warriors earned a 4-3 overtime win in 2001 and a 3-1 victory the next year.

WSU is 1-2-0 on March 3, falling at St. Lawrence, 5-3, in 2000; blanking Niagara, 1-0, in 2001; and dropping a 3-1 decision to Air Force last season.

SCOUTING ROBERT MORRIS
Since the last time these two teams met Jan. 19-20, which resulted in Wayne State sweeping Robert Morris at the Coliseum, the Colonials enjoyed a five-game winning streak and conversely battled through a four-game winless streak.

RMU was victorious at Princeton on Jan. 29 and earned subsequent home sweeps of Niagara and Bemidji State. More recently, however, the Colonials dropped a home-and-home series with then-No. 11 Miami and lost at Niagara last Friday before salvaging a tie the following night.

Senior forward Aaron Clarke has team-highs of 32 points and 21 assists this season, while junior Ryan Cruthers leads the squad with 13 goals and seven power-play markers. Their respective point totals rank sixth and seventh in the CHA.

RMU's 83.9 penalty-kill percentage leads the league and ranks 25th in the nation.

Junior netminder Christian Boucher (8-11-2, 3.46 GAA, .901 SV%) has seen the majority of playing time this season, but senior Joe Tuset (5-5-0, 2.89, .919) has made 13 appearances (11 starts) as well. Tuset leads the CHA in save percentage and is second in goals-against average.

WSU NOTES
Wayne State's 3-1 victory over Bemidji State on Friday was its first win over the Beavers since Nov. 23, 2004 (0-9-1 in that span).

Stavros Paskaris' power-play tally on Friday was his first goal since Feb. 10, 2006 at Robert Morris, a span of 38 games.

Freshman goaltender Brett Bothwell made 25 saves for his seventh win of the season.

Senior Jason Bloomingburg played in his 100th game in a WSU uniform on Friday (118 overall including a year at Providence College).

Saturday's 1-1 overtime tie was just the second stalemate this season for WSU (both within the last three games).

Senior goaltender and CHA Defensive Player of the Week Will Hooper, unbeaten in his last three starts, made 27 saves.

Jeff Caister, the CHA Rookie of the Week, had a point in each game of the BSU series, including WSU's lone goal on Saturday. He ranks fifth in the league among freshmen and defensemen in points.

Junior forward Derek Bachynski has a three-game point streak.

WSU CAPTAINS
Jason Bloomingburg, Mike Forgie

WSU ASSISTANT CAPTAINS
Nate Higgins, Taylor Donohoe