It’s simple — beat the teams you need to beat and you’ll make the playoffs. Wayne State has evidently adopted that mentality lately, as the Warriors have won eight of ten and four straight in College Hockey America play.
The Warriors (14-10-1 overall, 6-5-1 CHA) are now tied for second place in the CHA with Niagara after a 5-2 win Friday night in Findlay and a 3-1 victory Saturday at the Great Lakes Sports City. Findlay (6-6-2 overall, 4-4-2 CHA) sits in the fifth spot.
After a scoreless first period, WSU sophomore co-captain Jason Durbin scored his tenth goal of the season at the 7:25 mark of the second period. A Findlay defensemen coughed up the puck at his own blue line, and Durbin picked up the loose puck and beat UF freshman goalie Kevin Fines cleanly.
Almost three minutes later, sophomore defenseman Tyler Kindle made it 2-0 WSU with a shorthanded goal. After a scramble in front of the Wayne State net, sophomore Steve Nichols sent a pass up the middle through two Oiler defenders and Kindle caught up to it. Kindle deked one way, Fines bought the move, and Kindle tucked the puck into the empty side. Nichols was credited with the lone assist on Kindle’s fifth snipe of the year.
But Findlay replied at 19:19. On the power play, junior assistant captain Andy Croak finished off a nice passing play by redirecting a Nate Markus feed into a half-empty WSU net to make it 2-1. For Croak, it was his 11th marker of the campaign.
“Getting those two quick goals restored our confidence,” Durbin said. “We didn’t play our game in the first period, but we came out in the second, cycled the puck more down low and created more opportunities.”
The final 20 minutes saw each team content with dump-and-chase, but the Wayne State defense tightened up and Findlay managed only four shots on WSU sophomore netminder David Guerrera.
With seven-tenths of a second on the clock, Fines on the bench for an extra attacker and Findlay on the power play, Warriors freshman defenseman Marc St. Jean scored into an empty net after a faceoff win by Durbin deep in the WSU end. The goal was St. Jean’s second on the year.
“Go figure,” smiled St. Jean. “I can’t hit the net from ten feet away and then I hit it dead center from 140 feet out. It was that kind of game, I guess.”
Final shots were 35-23 in favor of the home team. Guerrera stopped 22 shots for the win, while Fines made 32 saves.
“There was great goaltending on both ends of the rink tonight,” said WSU head coach Bill Wilkinson. “I thought we moved the puck very crisply on the power play and also played with a lot of intensity. After playing a team one night, you pretty much know their game and the intense play is more of a factor.
“They want to get a win, but at the same time we want to get a sweep. It’s more of a grind the second night, but we pulled this one out.”
The Warriors are off until Thursday when they host the United States Under-18 National Team in an exhibition affair at the Great Lakes Sports City. Their next CHA action is Feb. 3-4 in Colorado Springs against the Air Force Academy.
Findlay hosts Niagara for a pair next weekend.
