Oct. 25, 2007

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WARRIORS TRAVEL TO CORNELL: Fresh off a two-game sweep of Union last weekend, the Wayne State University women's hockey team travels to Ithaca, N.Y. for a road series against Cornell University of the Ivy League at Lynah Rink. The last meeting between the two schools was Nov. 4, 2006 with the Warriors notching a 3-2 win. WSU holds a 4-1-1 all-time record against Cornell and enters the series with a 2-2 overall record in 2007 and a 0-2 mark in road contests. Head coach Jim Fetter is in his fifth year at the helm of the Warriors with a 59-66-13 record.

SCOUTING THE BIG RED: Cornell enters this weekend series with a perfect 2-0 record after defeating Vermont, 3-0 and 4-2, (Oct. 20-21). Freshman Rebecca Johnson leads the team offensively with five points (two goals and three assists). Johnson was recently named ECAC Hockey's Rookie of the Week scoring the first goal of the season last week against Vermont (Oct. 20) that proved to be the game-winner, and assisted on the game-winner in the second game (Oct. 21). The rookie recorded 12 shots for the weekend and was +4. Cornell is under the direction of head coach Doug Derraugh who is in his third season.

RINK RECAP: The WSU women's hockey team opened the home portion of its schedule in style defeating Union, 7-1, and 4-0 at City Sports Ice Arena (Oct. 19-20). After only scoring one goal in two games against Clarkson (Oct. 5-6), the Warriors' offense rebounded scoring 11 goals on 56 shots. Defensively, WSU held Union to only one goal on 29 total shots while holding the Dutchwomen to a 1-for-11 mark on the power play.

BOAL NAMED CHA PLAYER OF THE WEEK AND MAKES HISTORY: In WSU's 7-1 victory over Union (Oct. 19), junior Melissa Boal (Pakenham, Ontario/Ottawa Raiders) became the first Wayne State women's hockey player to score five goals and record seven points in a game. Boal added two assists in addition to her five tallies to earn the No. 1 star of the game. Her five goals broke her own record which she set last season scoring four times against Robert Morris (2-15-06) and her seven points eclipsed former WSU standout Kelly Zamora who notched five points at Sacred Heart (3-5-04). For her performance, Boal was named CHA Co-Offensive Play of the Week along with Niagara's Ashley Riggs.

CENTURY MARK: With her eight point output against Union (Oct. 19-20), Melissa Boal eclipsed the 100-point mark with 101 points for her career which ranks first all-time on the WSU career points list.

SHUT EM' DOWN: Senior Valery Turcotte (Jonquiere, Quebec/Royal Metabetchouan) earned No. 1 star of the game honors after recording her sixth career by shutout stopping all 15 shots in leading WSU to a 4-0 victory over Union (Oct. 20).

WSU PICKED SECOND IN CHA PRESEASON POLL: Defending 2006-07 regular season and tournament champion Mercyhurst College was voted by the College Hockey America (CHA) league coaches as the preseason favorite to repeat as conference champion for the 2007-08 campaign. The Lakers received three first-place votes with nine overall points. Wayne State received one first-place vote with seven points. Niagara came in third with five points while Robert Morris rounded out the group with three points.

BOAL NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-CHA TEAM: Wayne State junior forward Melissa Boal (Pakenham, Ont./Ottawa Raiders) was named to the Preseason All-CHA Team. Last season, Boal was a First Team All-CHA selection ranking seventh nationwide in goals per game (0.82), ninth in power-play goals (11) and 16th in points per game (1.32) in 34 games played for the Warriors. She also ranked second in conference goals (28), short-handed goals (2), third in power-play goals (11), fourth in points (45) and game-winning goals (3) and fifth in power-play points (22).

COMMISSIONER'S CUP: WSU's 7-1 victory over Union (Oct. 19) was part of the 2007-08 Commissioners' Cup. For the second straight year, the commissioners of the four NCAA Division I women's ice hockey conferences are sponsoring a competition for the Women's Commissioners' Cup. A total of 30 different programs will participate in the 20-game schedule that opened up with two games on Saturday, October 13: Minnesota State (WCHA) at Connecticut (Hockey East) and North Dakota (WCHA) at Rensselaer (ECAC). Last year's inaugural competition was captured by the WCHA.