In its final home series of the regular season, the Wayne State women’s hockey team finished with a 2-2 tie Feb. 12 and suffered a 4-2 loss Feb. 13 against the Niagara Purple Eagles.
It was senior weekend as the team honored the four seniors on the roster: Chelsea Burnett, Christine Jefferson, Katrina Protopapas and Lindsey Park. A pre-game ceremony recognized all four and their achievements.
“It’s great,” Burnett said. “You look forward to this in all your four years of college.”
The Warriors began Feb. 12 with two goals from Adrianna Pfeffer and Alyssa Baldin. Pfeffer tallied her second goal of the season after an assist from freshman Gina Buquet, who earned her first point in five games.
The team then capitalized on its first power play of the game in the second period. Baldin’s goal put the Warriors up by two. Baldin, who scored her seventh goal of the season, productively skated up and down the ice creating quality-scoring chances.
The Purple Eagles wasted no time getting back in the game after a slap shot from Daniela Dal Colle, which followed an earlier goal from Frances McPhail and evened the score. Both shots beat Wayne State’s Delayne Brian, who stopped 31.
The final period intensified in the last 10 minutes as both teams looked for the winning goal. The game went into overtime — the sixth overtime game of the season for the Warriors — but neither team prevailed as the game resulted in the 2-2 tie.
The following afternoon, Park started in net for the first time since Jan. 9 for the Warriors. Wayne State came out strong in the first period with a goal by Micheline Frappier midway through.
The Warriors maintained their lead for just over two minutes as Niagara’s Leah Whittaker scored a short-handed goal right after a face-off win in Warrior territory.
Jenna Hendrikx and Jennifer MacLean both scored for Niagara and left Wayne State trailing by two.
Lauren Ragen was one of the two lamplighters for Wayne State after a power-play goal early in the third period. However, Dal Colle answered back with a power-play goal of her own to regain Niagara’s two-goal lead.
With 2:98 left in regulation, Niagara’s Michaela DiFazio picked up a hooking call that allowed the Warriors to play with a man-advantage. With 1:30 left, the Warriors pulled Park for two extra attackers, but eventually fell short.
The Purple Eagles, who are now 11-12-5, earned their first win on Warrior ice since 2006. Despite the loss, Wayne State out-shot Niagara 32-28 and dominated in face-off wins 44-22.
The Warriors (8-14-4) still have four games left in the regular season, including two against No. 1- ranked Mercyhurst. Coach Jim Fetter’s emphasis on confidence is his team’s key strategy before the CHA quarterfinals that begin March 4.
“We just got to make sure we’re going in with confidence,” Fetter said. “Right now it doesn’t matter where we finish, we just have to make sure whenever we’re going in we’re feeling good about ourselves.”
Injury Report:
Veronique Laramee-Paquette practiced last week, fell into the boards and dislocated her shoulder. She’s most likely out for the remainder of the season.
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