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GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University women's hockey team (8-17-1, 1-10-1 CHA) will play its final home series of the 2010-11 season this weekend against Robert Morris University (4-19-4, 1-8-2 CHA) at the City Sports Center in Detroit. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday and 2:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.

On Friday night the team is sponsoring a coloring book drive to benefit DMC Children's Hospital. Saturday will be Senior Day, as WSU celebrates the career of senior forward Adrianna Pfeffer.

Wayne State is looking to snap a five-game winless streak which includes a pair of losses last weekend at fourth-ranked Mercyhurst. Robert Morris lost six in a row before skating to a 2-2 tie on Saturday against Niagara.

Three weeks remain in the regular season until the 2011 College Hockey America Tournament, March 4-6 in Syracuse, N.Y.


BEHIND THE BENCH
Jim Fetter is 117-119-23 in his eighth season at the helm of the WSU women's hockey program. He is a three-time College Hockey America (CHA) Coach of the Year and was named Women's Division I Coach of the Year by the American Hockey Coaches Association in 2008.

Nate Handrahan has a career record of 50-107-11 in his fifth season at Robert Morris.


THROUGH THE YEARS
Wayne State leads Robert Morris in the all-time series, 20-5-0, dating back to RMU's inaugural 2005-06 season. The teams split their last two regular-season series, both in Pittsburgh. The Warriors and Colonials are also likely to face each other in the quarterfinal game of the CHA Tournament for the second straight year. Last season, RMU eliminated WSU with a 3-1 win.


IN THE POLLS
Robert Morris and Wayne State were predicted to finish in fourth and fifth place, respectively, by the CHA head coaches in the 2010-11 preseason poll.


SCOUTING ROBERT MORRIS
The Colonials' 3-1 win over the Warriors on Nov. 12 was one of just four wins this season for Robert Morris, who last tasted victory Jan. 8 at Connecticut. RMU has been outscored, 32-12, during its current seven-game winless skid.

Senior Sara O'Malley (10-13--23) is among four Colonial forwards with at least 20 points this season, along with junior Brianna Delaney (9-13--22), freshman Thea Imbrogno (8-12--20) and sophomore Dayna Newsom (5-15--20). Imbrogno, who has recorded 12 of her 20 points in conference games, ranks second overall in the CHA in points among rookies.

Three goaltenders have shared playing time this season. Sophomore Kristen DiCiocco is 3-5-3 in 12 starts with a 2.97 goals-against average and a .885 save percentage, but has not played in the last eight games. Rookie Meeri Raisanen (1-6-1, 4.13, .859) has started the last eight contests, while senior Daneca Butterfield (0-8-0, 5.31, .848) has made three relief appearances in that span.

As a team, Robert Morris has the third-worst scoring defense (4.15 goals/game) and penalty kill (77.5 percent) in Division I.


LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State had a pair of one-goal leads but ultimately fell, 6-2, at Mercyhurst on Friday night. The Lakers erased a 2-1 deficit with five goals in a seven-minute span, including two by Meghan Agosta who finished with a hat trick and became the NCAA all-time leader in career points.

Mercyhurst more than quadrupled WSU's shot total, 57-14. Junior goaltender Delayne Brian made a career-high 51 saves, and with 28 saves in the second period she broke the program record for saves in a period, previously held by Kelly Zamora who had 24 at Mercyhurst on Feb. 2, 2002. Brian finished five saves short of the single-game mark set by Tina Thibideau (56) at Harvard on Jan. 4, 2003.

Jaclyn Stapleton opened the scoring at 12:21 in the first period with assists from Pfeffer and Micheline Frappier. Agosta's first of the game came on a power-play at 4:03 of the second, but Lauren Coxon answered with her first career goal at 5:56 from Julie Ingratta and Alyssa Baldin.

With less than 10 seconds left in the period, Agosta tied it with her second of the night and the scoring barrage ensued.

In Saturday's 3-1 setback, Jesse Scanzano finished with a hat trick for the Lakers, who defeated the Warriors for the 14th straight time.

Baldin spoiled Hillary Pattenden's shutout bid with a power-play goal at 14:11 of the third period. Pattenden and Brian totaled 19 and 34 saves, respectively.

Agosta, the nation's leading scorer, did not have a goal in the game but assisted on all three of Scanzano's tallies, the first of which came with less than 40 seconds until the second intermission.

Penalties were troublesome for the Warriors early in the third period, as Mercyhurst added a pair of 5-on-3 power-play goals 46 seconds apart to take a 3-0 lead.


WARRIORS MOVING UP RANKS
Brian amassed a career-high 85 saves last weekend at Mercyhurst, bringing her 2010-11 total to 842. She needs 94 saves to break Anna VanderMarliere's single-season record of 935 set in 2000-01.

Brian could set a new WSU single-season mark for minutes played this weekend. She has played 1553:31 to this point, passing VanderMarliere (1458:57; 2003-04) and Valery Turcotte (1530:05; 2006-07) for third. Brian is approaching both former Warriors again, as Turcotte's 1580:38 in 2007-08 ranks second, while VanderMarliere's 1627:10 in 2000-01 is the current record.

With her goal Saturday at Mercyhurst, Baldin moved into a tie for seventh all-time at WSU in career power-play points (23), passing Zamora (2001-05) and Katrina Protopapas (2006-10). Baldin also took fifth place in career CHA points (25), passing teammate Veronique Laramee-Paquette.


SOLO SENIOR DAY
After the women's hockey program graduated four seniors last season and eight the year before that, Pfeffer will have the stage to herself on Senior Day this Saturday. Pfeffer comes into this weekend's series having played in 106 games during her four-year tenure at Wayne State. She has 18 career points, including a career-best eight this season.

Pfeffer, a kinesiology major, has served on the student-athlete advisory committee at WSU. The Farmington Hills native is one of just four players from the state of Michigan on the active roster. She is also the only player in program history to wear 26 as her jersey number.


LOOKING AHEAD
The Warriors will wrap up the 2010-11 regular season next weekend at Niagara. An idle weekend for WSU will precede the CHA Tournament in Syracuse.


WARRIOR NOTEBOOK
WSU has lost the last 14 meetings with Mercyhurst … Frappier, who has a point in five of the last seven games, tied her career-high with nine points this season … Agosta had 15 shots on Friday, one more than WSU as a team ... Saturday was the 10th time this year WSU and its opponent have been scoreless through the first 20 minutes (Warriors are 3-6-1 in those games) … Baldin has 18 points on the season, matching her freshman year total and two shy of her career-best from last season.