Wayne State took a 1-0 lead into the last half of the third period against Sacred Heart Friday night, but surrendered two late goals and lost, 2-1, before 469 fans at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum.
Making the game all the more frustrating for Wayne State was the temperature inside the Coliseum. The heat was apparently turned off and the locker rooms had to be warmed with space heaters.
In any event, David Jarman’s first collegiate goal proved to be the winner as the fourth liner crashed the net and knocked home a rebound at 15:32 of the third period.
“We do a lot of the dirty work on the fourth line,” said Jarman, clutching the puck. “(Peter) Ferraro put a shot on net and it went off the goalie and I was there for the rebound. Definitely my biggest goal I’ve ever scored. They get more special each level you move up.”
Wayne State freshman Jeff Caister staked WSU to the early lead when he netted his first goal as a result of hard work down low by Jared Katz. Two SHU defenders sandwiched Katz as he drove to the net, but as he was going down to the ice, Katz blindly fed the puck to the point and the unmarked Caister walked into a laser-like slapshot that beat Pioneer goalie Stefan Drew high glove at 18:45 for the early 1-0 lead.
WSU goalie Will Hooper was tested on occasion and came up with the key stops in the opening 20 minutes. Hooper was especially sharp in denying Eric Giosa on a two-on-one break with just over five minutes to play in the period. Drew was equal to the task, save for the Caister tally.
“This was a very even hockey game,” noted Sacred Heart head coach Shaun Hannah. “I thought they carried the play the first half of the first period and then we took over the second half of the period. Then in the second, it was back and forth and in the third we got our chances.”
A rather uneventful second period, the broken door to the Sacred Heart bench notwithstanding, saw both teams go to the locker room with the Warriors still holding a one-goal advantage. The game was delayed nearly 10 minutes while the two teams’ equipment managers rigged the door shut.
The door was repaired again midway through the third period.
Alexandre Parent tied the game on a SHU power play 11:55 into the third period. After Wayne State wanted a penalty on the Pioneers during a scrum along the left-wing boards in the Sacred Heart zone, Derek Bachynski was whistled for elbowing. Just seconds into the penalty, from the left point Dave Grimson fed Parent at the other point and he wired a one-timer past Hooper, who may have been screened.
“I thought we played great in the third,” added Hannah. “We wanted to play better in the third period and we did that.”
“We had our chances in the third, too,” said Warrior head coach Bill Wilkinson. “But we had breakdowns and didn’t have the proper coverage and they took advantage. A college hockey game shouldn’t be 2-1. College hockey games should be 5-4 and 6-5 games. But you at least need to score more than one goal.”
Drew finished with 19 saves, while Hooper stopped 20.
WSU (1-4-0) hosts St. Lawrence Saturday night while Sacred Heart (2-2-1) ventures to Michigan State .
