GAME NOTES  |  LIVE STATS

GAME STORYLINES
In its final series of the 2010 calendar year, the Wayne State University women's hockey team (7-9-0) will head to Columbus to take on Ohio State University (8-8-2) at the OSU Ice Rink. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. ET on Thursday and 2:07 p.m. ET on New Year's Eve.

Wayne State has been idle since dropping a pair of conference games Dec. 3-4 at Syracuse, losing a 3-0 decision in the opener and a 5-3 result the next day. In its most recent action, Ohio State was swept at seventh-ranked Minnesota, falling 6-0 on Dec. 10 and 2-1 in overtime on Dec. 12.

The Warriors will begin 2011 with six straight home games in January, including series against Niagara, Quinnipiac and Syracuse.


BEHIND THE BENCH
Jim Fetter is 116-111-22 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.

Jackie Barto has been at the helm of the OSU women's hockey program since its inception, and has a record of 172-208-41 over 12 seasons. Her 17-year career record, which includes five seasons at Providence (1994-99) stands at 242-261-51.


THROUGH THE YEARS
The Buckeyes swept the Warriors by scores of 8-0 and 7-1 in their only prior meetings, March 2-3, 2001 in Columbus.


IN THE POLLS
Wayne State was predicted to finish in fifth place by the CHA head coaches in the 2010-11 preseason poll. Ohio State was picked fourth in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association preseason coaches' poll and is receiving votes in the USCHO.com and the USA Today/USA Hockey Division I national polls.


SCOUTING OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes are looking to end 2010 on a positive note after being swept by the Golden Gophers three weeks ago in Minneapolis. Ohio State is 4-4-0 against CHA teams this year, earning a pair of 4-1 victories at Robert Morris to open the regular season Oct. 8-9 and outscoring Syracuse, 11-3, in a home sweep Oct. 29-30.

Junior forward Laura McIntosh, the nation's leader in assists (23), has a team-best 31 points. Hokey Langan, last season's WCHA Rookie of the Year, has 10 goals and 16 assists in her sophomore campaign. Junior Natalie Spooner, tied for the national lead with six power-play goals, has a team-high 15 goals and 21 points overall.

Rookie netminder Lisa Steffes has started every game this season for the Buckeyes and has a 2.85 goals-agianst average with a .915 save percentage.


LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State opened a weekend series at Syracuse with a 3-0 setback on Friday, Dec. 3 at the Tennity Ice Pavilion. On the heels of two shutout wins over Minnesota State the weekend prior, the Warriors were blanked themselves by the Orange, who were playing their first conference game of the year.

Megan Skelly netted the game-winner just 59 seconds into the contest. Syracuse added a pair of special-teams goals, one short-handed and another on a power play, en route to snapping a three-game winless streak.

The Orange more than doubled the shot output of the Warriors, 33-16. Delayne Brian made 30 saves, the 12th time this season she has stopped at least 30 attempts. Freshman Jenesica Drinkwater turned aside all 16 shots for her second career shutout.

The following afternoon, the Warriors dropped a 5-3 decision, resulting in a sweep for the Orange. The teams combined for six goals in the third period of what began as a very tight, low-scoring contest.

Gina Buquet finished with three points on a goal and two assists, her third multiple-point performance of the season.

Skelly and Jessica Sorensen had a goal and an assist each, and Julie Rising registered two assists as the Orange defeated the Warriors for the fifth straight meeting.

The Warriors, who played to a scoreless first period for the fifth time this season, snapped the 0-0 tie at 10:17 of the second period as Jaclyn Stapleton scored her first goal of the year from Katie Gaskin and Buquet.

Isabel Menard tied it up three minutes later, and in the early stages of the third period Stefanie Marty put the Orange ahead. During an SU power-play, a scramble for a loose puck ended with Skelly poking it in to make it a 3-1 game at 8:16 in the third.

Wayne State would score twice in less than a four-minute span later in the period, but the Orange were quick to answer both goals. A 5-on-3 goal by Buquet with assists from Jill Szandzik and Cari Coen reduced the WSU deficit to one. Sorensen restored SU's two-goal lead moments later before Alyssa Baldin's ninth goal of the year from Veronique Laramee-Paquette and Buquet gave WSU late life.

With 36 seconds left in regulation, Sorensen blocked a clearance attempt in the WSU zone and skated in 2-on-1 with Kelsey Welch, who sealed the SU victory.

Brian, who has totaled 30 or more saves 13 times this season, and Kallie Billadeau collected 35 and 19 saves, respectively.


CONFERENCE KUDOS
For the second time in as many months, Brian was named CHA Goaltender of the Month.

Brian recorded three victories, including two shutouts, in the month of November. She had a .928 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average, and totaled over 30 saves in four of her six starts. Brian became the first WSU goalie since 2005 to earn back-to-back shutouts Nov. 26-27 against Minnesota State, collecting 67 saves in the series. She was also awarded CHA Goaltender of the Week honors twice in November.

The conference leader in save percentage (.925), Brian is a five-time CHA Goaltender of the Week and was also the Goalie of the Month for October. She ranks fourth in the nation with 530 saves.


WARRIORS MOVING UP RANKS
With her goal in the third period Dec. 4 at Syracuse, Baldin moved into a tie for fifth all-time at WSU with Emily McGrath-Agg (2002-05) in career goals (27). Baldin is also tied for fifth in career CHA points (22) with Laramee-Paquette and Katrina Protopaps (2006-10), and has sole possession of fourth place in CHA goals (13), surpassing Protopapas.

Szandzik has 23 power-play points, tied for sixth all-time with Kelly Zamora (2001-05) and Protopapas. She is seventh in CHA assists (14), passing Laramee-Paquette and Laura Monk (2004-07) on Dec. 4.
In addition, Szandzik's 12 assists this season ties her for sixth with Krissy Langley (2002-03) and Peyton Patterson (2005-06) in assists by a defenseman in a single season.

With 530 saves on the year, Brian has the seventh-highest single-season total in WSU history and is two saves shy of sixth-place Tiffany Thompson (2001-02). Brian has seven wins this season, eighth-most in program history. She is one of three goalies to reach four shutouts in a season, joining Anna VanderMarliere (2002-03) and Valery Turcotte, who did it twice (2005-06, 2007-08). Her eight career shutouts are third-most all-time and two shy of the program record.


WSU VS. WCHA
Entering the upcoming series with OSU, Wayne State has a 15-41-5 record all-time against WCHA opponents. Ohio State is the fifth team from the WCHA that Wayne State will face in 2010-11. The Warriors split a home series (0-3, 4-2) to open the season Oct. 1-2 against Bemidji State, shut out St. Cloud State on the road, 3-0, on Oct. 8, lost a narrow 1-0 result at Minnesota the following day, and swept Minnesota State with a pair of shutout victories Nov. 26-27 in Detroit.

Wayne State is 7-5-2 versus WCHA squads over the last three seasons.


WEEKDAY RARITY
It is not often that Wayne State plays a game outside of a weekend, but this upcoming series will feature WSU's first Thursday contest since a 3-1 loss to Robert Morris in the quarterfinals of the 2010 CHA Tournament in Detroit. The Warriors last played a regular-season Thursday contest on Nov. 12, 2009, skating to a 2-2 tie at sixth-ranked Wisconsin, the 2009 NCAA champion.

Prior to those two games last season, WSU had not played on a Thursday since a 4-3 overtime loss to Niagara in the semifinals of the 2006 CHA Tournament at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum in Detroit. The Warriors' last regular-season Thursday game before last year's deadlock with the Badgers resulted in a 5-0 victory at Union on Dec. 30, 2004.

Since 1999, WSU has played in 19 games which fell on a Monday-Thursday, posting a 4-12-3 record in those games.


LOOKING AHEAD
Wayne State will play six consecutive home games in January, beginning Jan. 14-15 against Niagara. The Warriors will also host Quinnipiac (Jan. 21-22) and Syracuse (Jan. 28-29). The Jan. 28 contest against the Orange will be the sixth annual Doc Andrews Alumni Night at the City Sports Center.