(LEBANON, Ill., Sept. 19)—The McKendree University hockey team rallied from a 4-0 deficit midway through the contest for a 6-4 win Friday night over Indiana University in the Bearcats' 2014-15 home opener at the East Alton Ice Arena.
 
Senior forward Dylan Mueth (Lebanon, IL/Wesclin ) capped the comeback for McKendree with his third goal of the night thanks to a power play goal with just under 13 minute remaining. Freshman defenseman Brent Feltes (St. Louis, MO/DeSmet Jesuit) added an empty-net goal in the closing seconds to help the Bearcats improve to 2-1 on the year. McKendree and Indiana will wrap up its weekend series Saturday at 4 p.m. in East Alton.
 
Sophomore Tony Salamone (Jefferson City, MO/Jefferson City) was also a big factor in the McKendree win. Salamone came into the contest following the Hoosiers' fourth goal with 11:04 left in the second period. He blanked Indiana over the final 31-plus minutes, making nine saves in the process. Salamone moves to 1-1 on the year.
 
Indiana scored twice in the first period, then added two more in the first 8:56 of the second period to build a 4-0 lead. Head coach Garry Henson made the switch in goal, bringing in Salamone at that point and the Bearcats responded with their first goal of the night less than two minutes later. Junior forward Jacob Schlote (House Springs, MO/Hillsboro) started the McKendree comeback off a pass from freshman forward Ethan Gremminger (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt North) with 9:45 left in the second. Two minutes later, freshman forward Ryan Sizer (Belleville, Ontario, Canada/Moira Secondary School) cut the McKendree deficit in half as he found the back of the net, with sophomore defenseman Ryan Franklin and freshman forward Billy Lamb (St. Louis, MO/St. Mary's) picking up the assists.
 
In the closing moments of the second period, Mueth scored his first goal of the evening on the power play, with Schlote and Sizer picking up the assists. McKendree trailed just 4-3 heading into the third period, but Mueth tied the game just 2:08 into the third period as he scored again with the Bearcats enjoying a man advantage. Schlote and senior defenseman Quinn Hellmann (Gillispie, IL/Gillespie) had the assists on the game-tying goal.
 
With 12:59 left, Mueth completed his hat trick off a pass from Sizer, giving McKendree a 5-4 lead. Salamone and the Bearcats' defense held off the Hoosiers the rest of the way as Feltes put the exclamation point on the McKendree win with his empty-net tall with 6.2 seconds on the clock.