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GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University women's hockey team (8-20-2, 1-13-2 CHA) will meet Robert Morris University (5-20-7, 2-9-5 CHA) in the quarterfinal game of the College Hockey America Tournament for the second year in a row at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday at the Tennity Ice Pavilion in Syracuse, N.Y. Robert Morris and Wayne State are the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively.

Wayne State is looking to snap a nine-game winless streak which includes two losses at Niagara in WSU's final regular-season series two weeks ago. Robert Morris lost its season finale, 6-2, at third-ranked Mercyhurst last Friday.

The winner of Thursday's quarterfinal will face the top-seeded Lakers at 4:00 p.m. in the first of two semifinal games on Friday. Niagara and Syracuse will square off in the second semifinal matchup at 7:00 p.m.


BEHIND THE BENCH
Jim Fetter is 117-122-24 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.

Nate Handrahan has a career record of 51-108-14 in his fifth season at Robert Morris.


THROUGH THE YEARS
Wayne State leads Robert Morris in the all-time series, 20-6-1, dating back to RMU's inaugural 2005-06 season. The Warriors went 1-2-1 against the Colonials this season and will meet RMU in the CHA Tournament for the fourth consecutive year. Wayne State blanked Robert Morris, 4-0, in 2008 and defeated Robert Morris in overtime, 4-3, in the longest game in league history two years ago. Last season, RMU eliminated WSU with a 3-1 win in the quarterfinal game in Detroit.


IN THE POLLS
Robert Morris and Wayne State were predicted to finish fourth and fifth, respectively, by the CHA head coaches in the 2010-11 preseason poll. The teams indeed finished the regular season as the poll suggested.


SCOUTING ROBERT MORRIS
Thursday's encounter between Robert Morris and Wayne State will be the third meeting between the teams in less than three weeks, as the Warriors and Colonials faced off in WSU's final home series of the season Feb. 11-12. The series resulted in a 4-4 tie and a 2-1 RMU victory. Robert Morris' 6-2 loss at Mercyhurst on Friday snapped a five-game unbeaten streak which included four ties.

Senior forward Sara O'Malley is the team's leading scorer and ranks seventh in the league in points (13-16--29). Forward Thea Imbrogno, who ranks second in scoring among CHA freshmen (12-16--28), has 13 points during her current nine-game point streak. Junior Brianna Delaney (11-15--26) and sophomore Dayna Newsom (5-16--21) round out the group of 20-point scorers this season.

Freshman Meeri Raisanen has started all 13 games of the 2011 calendar year and amassed a 3.58 goals-against average with a .883 save percentage. However, the Colonials are third-from-last in the nation in scoring defense (3.97) and penalty killing (78.3) this season.


LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State and Niagara battled to a scoreless tie through 60 minutes on Feb. 18, but Kathleen Bortuzzo's game-winner 1:34 into overtime gave the Purple Eagles a 1-0 win over the Warriors at Dwyer Arena.

Delayne Brian and Jenni Bauer made 31 and 18 saves, respectively, as Bauer shut out the Warriors for the second time this season.

Bortuzzo's goal came during a Niagara power-play with assists from Leah Whittaker and Jacqueline Spring. Niagara improved to 2-1-5 in overtime games this year.

This game marked just the fourth time in program history that an overtime game ended with a 1-0 score, and the first time since a win at Colgate on Oct. 24, 2009.

Brian set a Wayne State University single-season record for saves, but the Warriors dropped their regular-season finale, 4-2, at Niagara on Feb. 19.

As she corralled a wrist shot from the blue line by Erica Owczarczak at the midpoint of the game, Brian posted her 16th save of the game and 936th of the season, surpassing Anna VanderMarliere (935; 2000-01) as the new single-season leader.

Brian finished with 27 saves, but with three straight third-period tallies the Purple Eagles erased a 1-0 deficit created by Lauren Coxon in the first period.

Wayne State made it a 3-2 score with just over two minutes remaining in regulation on a goal by Alyssa Baldin, but Jessica Hitchcock finished off the game with her second goal of the afternoon with 18 seconds left.

Shots on goal went in favor of the Warriors, 34-31. Wayne State had 17 in the second, matching its highest single-period total of the year, but Bauer stopped all 17 as part of her 29 saves.


WARRIORS MOVING UP RANKS
Not only has Brian set a new single-season saves record, but she also broke the marks for games played (30) on Feb. 19 and minutes played the week prior. VanderMarliere previously held all three records from the 2000-01 season.

Jill Szandzik had two assists on Feb. 19, allowing her to advance in a multitude of categories in the record book. She moved into 10th place in career points (48) and second in points by a defenseman, passing Emily McGrath-Agg (2002-05) in the former category and Tina Vanderhoeven (2005-09) in both. Szandzik took sole possession of sixth in career assists (40), passing Laura Monk (2004-07).

Szandzik also surpassed Kelly Zamora (2001-05) for fifth in career CHA assists (17) and tied Zamora for fifth in career CHA points (22).

In terms of single-season numbers, Szandzik is tied for second with Chelsea Burnett (2007-08) in assists by a blueliner (17). She also moved into second place for points by a defenseman (20), eclipsing Burnett who totaled 19 twice (2007-08, 2008-09).

Baldin, who is tied with Katie Jones (2000-04) for seventh in career points (57), needs one more to match Monk's sixth-place total. Baldin is also tied for fifth in career CHA points (26) with Veronique Laramee-Paquette.


TOURNEY TIME
For the first time in league history, the postseason tournament will be played in Syracuse, as the Orange joined the CHA upon the program's inception three years ago. Wayne State was the host institution last season.

In eight CHA Tournaments, the Warriors have amassed a 3-8 record, having lost to Mercyhurst in three consecutive championship games before last year's defeat against Robert Morris in the quarterfinal.

Wayne State's first postesason victory was a 3-2 result against Niagara in 2007, followed by wins over RMU in the semifinals in 2008 and 2009, the latter of which was the longest game in CHA women's league history (75:04).


WARRIOR NOTEBOOK
Wayne State finished at the bottom of the CHA standings for the first time since 2003-04 ... Szandzik's multiple-point game Feb. 19 was her third of the season and seventh of her career ... the Warriors had 17 shots in the second period of the 4-2 loss, matching their highest single-period total of the season.