(LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 11)—Junior wing Nic Rolla (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) registered his second consecutive hat trick in leading the McKendree University hockey team to an 11-1 victory Friday night on the road against Western Illinois University.
 
Sophomore center/wing Dylan Mueth (New Baden, IL/Belleville East) chipped in with a pair of goals while sophomore center/wing Carlos Galvan (Mulvane, KS/Mulvane) had a big night with two goals and four assists as the Bearcats improved to 6-8-1 on the year. McKendree and Western Illinois will close out their weekend series Saturday at 6:15 p.m.
 
Rolla scored twice in the first five minutes of play, while senior defenseman Derek Hartung (Belleville, IL/Belleville West) registered a power-play goal to help McKendree build a 3-0 lead after one period of play. The Bearcats stretched the margin to 7-0 heading into the second intermission thanks to Galvan's two goals, along with tallies from Mueth and graduate defenseman Nick Smothers.
 
After Western Illinois broke up the shutout bid by junior Nathan Campo (Westmont, IL/Downers Grove South) in the opening seconds of the third period, the Bearcats sealed the victory with four more goals. Senior center J. David Coleman (Budapest, Hungary/Fort Zumwalt West) scored McKendree's final even-strength goal of the night before the Bearcats closed with three straight power-play goals. Rolla finished off his hat trick before Mueth added an unassisted tally. Senior wing Kyle Clark (Waterloo, IL/Waterloo) scored with just over five minutes left to complete the scoring.
 
Coleman added three assists in the win for McKendree, while freshman center/wing Eric Davis and junior defenseman Matt Seelbach each chipped in with two assists. Campo stopped 29 of 30 shots by Western Illinois to pick up the win in goal for the Bearcats.