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GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University women's hockey team (8-18-2, 1-11-2 CHA) will close out its 2010-11 regular-season schedule this weekend at Niagara University (9-14-5, 6-4-2 CHA). The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday and 2:00 p.m. ET on Saturday at Dwyer Arena.

Wayne State is looking to snap a seven-game winless streak which includes a 4-4 tie and a 2-1 loss to Robert Morris last weekend in Detroit. Niagara is 6-2-2 in its last 10 games, having last played Feb. 4-5 at RMU and coming away with a 3-1 win and a 2-2 tie.

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


BEHIND THE BENCH
Jim Fetter is 117-120-24 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.

A former defenseman who played with the Niagara men's program from its inception (1996-2000), Chris MacKenzie is in his second season as the head women's coach at his alma mater and has a career record of 21-28-10.


THROUGH THE YEARS
After being swept by Niagara last month in Detroit, Wayne State trails in the all-time series, 18-20-1, dating back to WSU's inaugural 1999-2000 campaign. The Warriors went 1-2-1 against the Purple Eagles last season after winning 10 straight meetings from 2007-09. Wayne State has outscored Niagara, 42-30, over the last four seasons.


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


SCOUTING NIAGARA
After winning just three of their first 18 games, the Purple Eagles have lost just two of their last 10 and are in second place in the CHA with four games remaining.

A bright spot for Niagara this season has been the play of freshmen Kristen Richards (7-6--13) and Jessica Hitchcock (3-9--12), who rank fifth and sixth, respectively, among league rookies in scoring. Both forwards scored a goal in Niagara's 3-0 win at Wayne State on Jan. 14.

Senior goaltender Jenni Bauer, an All-CHA First Team selection last year, has started 24 of Niagara's 28 games, and has a 9-12-3 record with a 2.41 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. She has been instrumental in Niagara's recent success, having posted a 2.10 GAA and a .949 SV% over her last nine starts.


LAST TIME OUT
Julie Ingratta scored two goals in the final 7:21 of regulation, including an extra-attacker goal with 38 seconds left in the third period, as Wayne State went to a 4-4 overtime tie with Robert Morris last Friday night at the City Sports Center.

The Warriors erased a pair of one-goal deficits before the Colonials scored two power-play goals in the second period to take a 4-2 lead.

As WSU outshot RMU, 13-6, in the third, Ingratta came out of a scrum in front of the Colonial net with her 10th goal of the season at 12:39, reducing Wayne State's deficit to one.

In the final minute, with Delayne Brian pulled for an extra attacker, Jill Szandzik and Ingratta worked the puck back and forth until Ingratta found an opening for a shot from the right wing to make it a 4-4 game.

Veronique Laramee-Paquette and Micheline Frappier also scored for the Warriors, who finished with a season-high 41 shots on goal.

In its final home game of the season, Wayne State lost to RMU, 2-1, on Saturday. The Colonials scored two goals in a 20-second span in the second period, erasing a 1-0 WSU lead established early in the game by Lauren Lovold, who earned her first collegiate point.

Brian made 20 saves Saturday and 47 in the series. She also set a WSU single-season record for minutes played (1676:05), breaking the mark set by Anna VanderMarliere in 2000-01 (1627:10).

The teams combined for 19 penalties both Friday and Saturday. While the Colonials, who also had a short-handed goal, went 3-for-6 on power plays Friday compared to the Warriors' 2-for-7 mark, the teams were a collective 0-for-18 on Saturday.


WARRIORS MOVING UP RANKS
Brian entered last weekend's series with RMU third in minutes played for a single season, passing Valery Turcotte (1580:38; 2007-08) and VanderMarliere to set the record.

Her 47 saves last week, combined with her career-high 85 saves two weeks ago at Mercyhurst, has Brian's 2010-11 total at 889. Brian needs 47 to break VanderMarliere's single-season record of 935, set in 2000-01.

Laramee-Paquette moved into the top 10 all-time at WSU in career goals (20) and is tied for fifth in career CHA points (25) with Alyssa Baldin.

Szandzik is tied for third in career assists (38) with Laura Monk (2004-07), and tied for sixth in career CHA assists (15) with Laramee-Paquette and Tina Vanderhoeven (2005-09). She also took sole possession of second place in career assists by a defenseman, passing Vanderhoeven.

With 15 helpers in 2010-11, Szandzik is tied for the third-highest single-season total by a defenseman in school history, along with Chelsea Burnett (2007-08).


SOLO SENIOR DAY
After the women's hockey program graduated four seniors last season and eight the year before that, Adrianna Pfeffer had the stage to herself on Senior Day last Saturday. Pfeffer has played in 108 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.


WARRIOR NOTEBOOK
Rachel Hardwick's assist Saturday was her second of the year … Jenaya Townsend posted her first point of the year with an assist Friday ... Frappier tied her career-high with six assists this season.