(LEBANON, Ill., Oct. 3)—The McKendree University hockey team scored four goals in the first 11 minutes of play in claiming a 7-2 victory Saturday afternoon over SIUE at the East Alton Ice Arena.
 
Defenseman Brendan Whitt (Granite City, IL/Granite City) scored twice during the decisive spurt for the Bearcats, who grabbed their fourth win in five outings. McKendree will head north next weekend for a pair of games against Illinois State University. The teams will play Friday night at 9:10 p.m. before closing out the weekend with a 5:40 face-off on Saturday.
 
Freshman forward Sasha-Mitchell Perron (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada/Bellingham Blazers (NPHL)) and sophomore forward Ryan Sizer (Belleville, Ontario, Canada/Moira Secondary School) each added a goal and assist for McKendree, while sophomore forward Jacob Young (Arnold, MO/Fox) and freshman forward Lazar Lestaric (Belgrade, Serbia/Sesta) handed out two assists apiece in the contest.
 
Just 91 seconds into Saturday's game, Whitt opened a four-goal outburst for McKendree in the first period as he scored of a pass from sophomore defenseman Steve Csanyi (Belleville, Ontario, Canada/Nicholson). Freshman forward Brett Biermann (Aviston, IL/Breese Central) netted his second goal in as many games two minutes later to give the Bearcats a 2-0 advantage. Junior forward Dakota Brewer (Linn Creek, MO/Camdenton) posted a power-play goal before Whitt scored at the 9:34 mark to extend the McKendree lead to 4-0.
 
SIUE cut the margin to 4-1 before the first intermission before Sizer scored midway through the second period to help McKendree regain a four-goal lead at 5-1. Sophomore defenseman Nick Brendal tallied the only other goal scored in the second period as the Bearcats took a 6-1 cushion into the final 20 minutes of play. SIUE scored early in the period before Perron closed out the scoring for the contest with just over two minutes remaining.
 
Sophomore Trevor Klostermann (Highland, IL/Highland) played the first period in goal before freshman Zachary Allen (Wexford, PA/North Allegheny) saw action over the final two periods. The duo combined to stop 17 shots by the Cougars.