(LEBANON, Ill., March 9)—The McKendree University hockey team was defeated by California University of Pennsylvania, 5-3, on Wednesday afternoon in the Bearcats' first game at the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division 3 National Championships in Holland, Mich.

McKendree held a 2-1 lead midway through the second period, but California (Pa.) tallied late in the second period to tie the contest, and an early third-period tally gave the Vulcans the lead for good. The Bearcats slip to 17-7-1 on the year and will return to action in pool play Thursday at 10:15 a.m. ET against Florida Gulf Coast University.

California University took an early 1-0 lead before the Bearcats tied the game midway through the first period. Graduate defenseman Brooks Boeschen (Belleville, Ill./Belleville East) (Belleville, Ill./Belleville East) scored off a pass from sophomore wing Brandon Riley (Belleville, IL/Belleville West) (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) at the 11:52 mark to help McKendree pull even at 1-1.

The Bearcats grabbed their only lead of the contest with 7:15 left in the second period. Sophomore wing Nic Rolla (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) (O'Fallon, Ill.) registered his first goal of the game with the assist going to senior defenseman Alec Steiner (Swansea, Ill./Belleville East) (Swansea, Ill./Belleville East) to push McKendree out to a 2-1 advantage.

But the Vulcans knotted the score with just under two minutes remaining in the second period, and a power play goal by Nick Posa in the first minute of the third period allowed California (Pa.) to regain a 3-2 lead. Two more goals extended the Vulcans' lead to 5-2, but Rolla added his second goal of the afternoon for McKendree with just seven seconds left on the clock to account for the final margin.

Senior Mike Stier (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) had a busy afternoon in goal for McKendree. Stier stopped 49 shots, including 31 of the first 32 by the Vulcans.