(LEBANON, Ill., Dec. 7)—The McKendree University hockey team was defeated Saturday afternoon at Missouri State University, 5-3.
 
The Bearcats led 3-1 in the early stages of the third period, but the host Bears rallied to net four unanswered goals, including an empty-net tally in the closing seconds, to gain a weekend split of the two-game series. McKendree is now 11-9 on the year and will not take the ice again until Jan. 15 on the road against the University of Illinois.
     
Much like Friday's balanced attack in a 4-1 triumph over Missouri State, McKendree had three different goal scorers in Saturday's contest. Freshman forward Sasha-Mitchell Perron (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada/Bellingham Blazers (NPHL)), sophomore forward Ryan Sizer (Belleville, Ontario, Canada/Moira Secondary School) and sophomore defenseman Steve Csanyi (Belleville, Ontario, Canada/Nicholson) all posted goals for the Bearcats in the effort. Perron also grabbed an assist on Csanyi's tally.
 
After Missouri State grabbed a 1-0 lead in the final minute of the first period, McKendree tied the game with 7:11 remaining in the second. Perron scored on the power-play, with the assist credited to freshman forward Ty Watt (Barrie, Ontario, Canada/Rama Aces GMHL). Just over a minute later, Sizer put the Bearcats in front at 2-1 with the assists going to defensemen Josh Donovan (Ojai, CA/Cornerstone Academy) and Brendan Whitt (Granite City, IL/Granite City).
 
McKendree made it 3-1 with just over a minute elapsed in the third period when Csanyi scored off a pass from Perron. From there, Missouri State began its comeback. The Bears eventually tied the game midway through the final period before netting the go-ahead goal at the 9:03 mark. Missouri State added an empty-net goal with 19 seconds on the clock to seal the win.
 
Freshman Andrew Best (Midland, Ontario, Canada/Cambridge Bears Junior A) faced 45 Missouri State shots, stopping 42 in taking the hard-luck loss in goal for McKendree.