(LEBANON, Ill., September 27)—The McKendree University hockey team registered its first shutout in nearly two years with a 7-0 victory Saturday night at Illinois State University.
 
Sophomore Tony Salamone (Jefferson City, MO/Jefferson City) stopped all 39 shots by the Redbirds to help McKendree close out a weekend sweep in Bloomington. The Bearcats, who rallied for a 7-4 win on Friday night, are now 4-2 on the year. McKendree will have a week off before heading to Holland, Mich., for a pair of games at Hope College on Oct. 10-11.
 
The shutout marked the first time in 23 months that McKendree held an opponent scoreless in a contest. The Bearcats' last shutout came in a 7-0 home win over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (Silver) on Oct. 26, 2012 in East Alton.
 
Senior forward Dylan Mueth (Lebanon, IL/Wesclin ) continued to have the hot hand offensively for McKendree as he notched the hat trick in Saturday's triumph over Illinois State. He tallied both goals in the first period for the Bearcats, including the first one just 52 seconds into the contest. After freshman forward Jacob Young (Arnold, MO/Fox) and Austin Graf (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) each scored in the second period to extend the lead to 4-0, Mueth capped his hat trick on a power-play goal midway through the period off a pass from junior forward Jacob Schlote (House Springs, MO/Hillsboro).
 
Freshman forward Ryan Sizer (Belleville, Ontario, Canada/Moira Secondary School) pumped in a power-play goal early in the third period before sophomore defenseman Aaron Rogers (Troy, IL/Triad) closed out the scoring on a tally with just 5:32 remaining.