(LEBANON, Ill., Oct. 3)—The McKendree University hockey team controlled all phases of the game Friday night in posting a 12-0 shutout win against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
 
The Bearcats held a 58-9 edge in shots on goal and registered their largest margin of victory in nearly a year to collect their fourth win in five outings. McKendree improves to 4-2 on the season and will face SIUE again Saturday at 4 p.m. at the East Alton Ice Arena to close out the weekend series.
 
Sophomore forward Ryan Sizer (Belleville, Ontario, Canada/Moira Secondary School) posted a hat trick while sophomore forward Jacob Young (Arnold, MO/Fox) added two goals to lead the scoring barrage for McKendree. Sizer also handed out a pair of assists in the effort. Freshman forward Lazar Lestaric (Belgrade, Serbia/Sesta) had a goal and a team-leading four assists against the Cougars.
 
Friday's contest was scoreless for nearly eight minutes before senior forward Jacob Schlote (House Springs, MO/Hillsboro) broke the ice with a power-play goal at the 12:05 mark. Young netted his first goal of the evening in the closing minutes of the period to give McKendree a 2-0 lead at the first intermission. The Bearcats took control in the early stages of the second period, scoring five times in an eight-minute stretch to extend the margin to 7-0. Freshman forward Brett Biermann (Aviston, IL/Breese Central) scored his first collegiate goal to open the floodgates. Sizer then pumped in a pair of goals that were sandwiched around a power-play tally by Lestaric. Freshman forward Sasha-Mitchell Perron (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada/Bellingham Blazers (NPHL)) then scored from close range at the 10:05 mark to finish off the flurry for McKendree.
 
Sophomore defenseman Josh Donovan (Ojai, CA/Cornerstone Academy) got the Bearcats off to a quick start in the third period, finding the back of the net just six seconds into the stanza. Young scored just over a minute later before sophomore forward Jacob Gremminger drilled a slap shot from the blue line to stretch the McKendree lead to 10-0. Freshman forward Shane Hill (Fenton, MO/Rockwood Summit) joined the scoring fray with just over nine minutes to play before Sizer completed his hat trick three minutes later.
 
Freshman Andrew Best (Midland, Ontario, Canada/Cambridge Bears Junior A) and sophomore Trevor Klostermann (Highland, IL/Highland) shared duties in goal for McKendree. The duo faced just nine shots for the combined shutout.