November
29, 2006
Impressive
Non-League Wins for CHA Members
By
Warren Kozireski
It was a big weekend for CHA teams in competition
against other conferences. In their first ever meeting,
Wayne State traveled to Cornell and defeated the Big Red
5-4 led by Jason Baclig's three-point effort and freshman
goaltender Brett Bothwell's 27 saves.
CHA
Notebook
Junior forward Stavros Paskaris and the Wayne State
Warriors scored one of the big wins by College Hockey
America teams last weekend.
"It's always good to come out on the
road and win a game, especially against a team like Cornell,'
said head coach Bill Wilkinson. "We played well in
today (Sunday), but just couldn't find the net."
The Warriors will play for a while without
the CHA Defensive Player of the Week in Dan Iliakis who
injured his shoulder. The senior is tied for second on the
team in scoring.
Niagara won their first in-season tournament
championship since 2001 with a 5-3 win over host RPI and
a 3-1 title game victory over Colgate. Sean Bentivoglio
scored a pair of goals, including the game winner and the
first shorthanded goal of his career, in the first round
and added another shorthanded tally in the championship
game victory over Colgate.
"Offensively we made some great plays
over the weekend," said Niagara head coach Dave Burkholder.
"Colgate plays very well defensively and is frustrating
to play against, but we get really excited for a chance
at the big four conferences."
SEEN AND HEARD IN THE CHA
Unfriendly confines: Wayne
State's Bothwell is fast becoming a Road Warrior with all
three of the team's season victories coming on the road.
"I can't say I expected it to come this quick,"
said Bothwell. "But whenever I've been in there I've
had lots of goal support so that makes my job easier. It
(Cornell) was a pretty crazy environment and it was great
to come out with a win."
Say, 'Cheese': Cornell head
coach Mike Schafer was seen after the second game posing
for a picture on the ice with Wayne State head coach Bill
Wilkinson. Asked where he'll put it, Schafer answered, "It'll
be on my desk. He's the reason I became a head coach in
college hockey, so I wanted it as a memento for later on."
Schafer was hired by Wilkinson as an assistant coach at
Western Michigan in 1990 and the two were together for five
seasons.
Great Weekend Getaway
Bemidji
State at Wayne State (Fri.-Sat.) The only conference match-up of the week
as Bemidji State travels for a pair at Wayne State.
The Beavers arrive following a week off while the
Warriors split at Cornell.
While You’re There: Make it
a triple header with the Warriors women's and men's
basketball teams battling Mercyhurst at 1 and 3 p.m.
Saturday at the Matthaei Center on campus.
Stick
Salute
To Niagara for
finally netting a short-handed goal
in Friday's win. Niagara was the last in CHA to score
one, but increased their total to two with another on
Saturday. Senior Sean Bentivoglio scored both.
Bench
Minor
Robert Morris
junior captain Chris Kaufman for being on the ice
for three even-strength goals against
in a 6-2 loss at Denver.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
• Niagara now has at least one point
in nine of their last ten games and tied the school record
for the third longest unbeaten streak at seven games.
• After losing their first three games,
Bemidji State has at least one point in six of their last
seven contests.
• Niagara's Ted Cook was held scoreless
against Bemidji State ending his school-record 19 game points
streak.
• With the shutout loss to Cornell,
Wayne State set the school record for most times shutout
in a season with four.
• Robert Morris, winless in its last
four games including an exhibition game, has the weekend
off before a trip to Huntsville. The Chargers split at Robert
Morris two weekends ago. The series marks game three and
four of six between the two in the unbalanced CHA schedule.
• The Purple Eagles have four players
among the top 12 in scoring in the nation. Michigan is second
with two players.
A variety
of sources were utilized in the compilation of this report.
