(LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 5)—McKendree College and the University of Iowa battled to a 5-5 tie Saturday afternoon in hockey action at the U.S. Ice Sports Complex in Fairview Heights.
The tie was the first of the year for McKendree, which moves to 6-11-1 overall. The Bearcats will be in Alton, Ill., on Sunday for a contest against Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Face-off is set for 3 p.m.
Against Iowa, sophomore defenseman Matt Defranco (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania/) (Bensalem, Pa./Conwell-Egan Catholic) scored with 8:45 left in the third period to tie the contest at 5-5. A five-minute overtime period did not settle the issue as McKendree freshman Mike Stier (Belleville, Illinois/) (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) faced the only shot on goal in the extra session. This was the second tie in the program’s two-year history – the Bearcats played to a 7-7 deadlock against SIU-Edwardsville back on Jan. 15, 2005.
Junior center Brad Maggio (Collinsville, Illinois/) (Collinsville, Ill./Collinsville) had two goals and an assist to lead the Bearcats. Maggio netted back-to-back goals in the second period to give McKendree a 3-2 lead. The IceHawks tied the score at 3-3 at the 6:29 mark when the Bearcats regained the lead 11 seconds later. Freshman center/wing Nick Dreyer (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) scored on Maggio’s assist to push the Bearcats back in front, 4-3.
Iowa scored later in the second period to even the score at 4-4, then added a goal seven minutes into the third period to grab a 5-4 lead. Defranco followed with the game-tying goal with assists from freshman center Charlie Donze (Fairview Heights, Ill./Althoff Catholic) (Fairview Heights, Ill./Althoff Catholic) and sophomore center Scott Roberts (Philadelphia, Pa./Bensalem) (Philadelphia, Pa./Bensalem).
Stier made 29 saves in the contest as the Bearcats held the edge in shots on goal for the second consecutive game. The Bearcats had 42 shots on goal compared to 33 for Iowa.
-McK-
