March 8, 2008

Niagara University, N.Y. - The No. 1 seed Wayne State University women's hockey team's magical season came to an end as the Warriors dropped a 2-1 overtime heartbreaker to #7 Mercyhurst in the College Hockey America (CHA) Tournament final on Saturday night at Dwyer Arena. Senior Valery Turcotte (Jonquiere, Quebec/Royal Metabetchouan) and junior Sammi Bowers (Littleton, Col./Colorado Selects) were named to the All-Tournament Team.

WSU finished the season with a school record 22 wins and 22-9-3 over all mark. The Warriors and Lakers tied the season series 2-2-1 with four games going to overtime. Despite the loss, Turcotte was outstanding in net with 28 saves allowing only two goals against a Mercyhurst offense that entered the contest averaging 4.06 goals-per-game. For the tournament, she made 43 total saves with a .956 save percentage including a shutout.

With the game deadlocked at 1-1 in overtime, Mercyhurst's (26-7-3) Kristen Erickson picked the puck off the boards in the right corner of the WSU zone. She was able to feed Stephanie Jones in the slot who placed a pin-point shot over Turcotte's left shoulder giving the Lakers their sixth consecutive tournament title and handing the WSU its first overtime loss all season.

Junior Sam Poyton (Hamilton, Ont./Stoney Creek Sabres) notched WSU only goal from junior Tina Vanderhoeven (London, Ont./London Juniors/Team Ontario).

In addition to Jones' goal, tournament MVP Meghan Agosta tallied MC's first goal which was assisted by Jesse Scanzano.

The first period ended with neither team unable to capitalize on the power-play. Mercyhust went 0-for-2 and Wayne State could not take advantage of three consecutive MC penalties in the final five minutes going 0-for-3 with the man advantage.

Mercyhurst got on the board first with its first power-play goal of the game. Scanzano shot the puck with Turcotte making the initial save but it then shot straight up in the air. There was a big crowd in front of the net as Agosta was able to bat the puck out of the air into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. Wayne State came back with a power-play marker of its own. Vanderhoeven took a long shot from the point just inside the blue line which Poyton was able to redirect past Hosier to knot the score 1-1.

The game would remain deadlocked at 1-1 throughout the third period. Mercyhust had their best scoring opportunity when Agosta caught a long pass and skated in alone but Turcotte stood tall in net stopping the shot on the high-stick side.