(FORT COLLINS, Co., Nov. 13) – The McKendree University women's hockey team completed the sweep over Colorado State after defeating the Rams 7-2 on Friday evening and 4-2 on Saturday. However, the Bearcats fell to the University of Colorado on Sunday morning by a final score of 4-1.
 
Friday night the Bearcats played the Rams at 7:30 p.m. Mountain Time in Fort Collins at the Endora Pool Ice Center.
 
The Bearcats came out to play Friday night taking an early lead that would never falter. Freshman defenseman Connor Denton (Kenosha, WI/Christian Life) found the back of the net just 31 seconds for the only goal of the period with assists coming from freshman forwards Natalia Taylor (Sooke, BC/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame) and Lara Wentz (Bismark, ND). McKendree came out strong again in the second period with freshman forward Bryana Christensen (Sidney, MT) scoring her first career goal 40 seconds into the period. Less than two minutes later freshman forward Keisha Johnson (Clearwater, BC) netted her first goal of the game on a pass from freshman Kiera Dietrich. The duo of Johnson and Dietrich struck again, for Johnson's second goal with 10:16 remaining in the second period to take a 4-0 lead. Freshman forward Allison Sauvola (Eagle River, WI/Northland Pines) banged one home on the power play on a pass from freshman defenseman Jana Garrow (Wexford, PA/North Allegheny). Just over one minute later Garrow found the back of the net with Taylor notching an assist, to close out the scoring in the second period. At the conclusion of the second period the Bearcats held a 6-0 lead over the Rams. Colorado State was able to find the back of the net twice in the third period to cut the McKendree lead down to four. However the Bearcats weren't done scoring, with freshman defenseman Kaleigh Slisz (Chicago, IL/Marist) scoring on an unassisted effort to put the game away. The Bearcats took home a 7-2 victory on Friday night.
 
Saturday evening the Bearcats took on Colorado State again at 8 p.m. Mountain Time at the Endora Pool Ice Center in Fort Collins, Colorado.
 
Both teams were held scoreless in the first period, but the Rams struck first in the second period with 17:22 remaining. The Bearcats responded with an unassisted effort from Slisz to tie the game at one. Colorado State responded with another goal to regain the lead. However, McKendree's Garrow scored the equalizer on a pass from freshman forward Alyssa Albee (Brookfield, WI/Brookfield Central). The Bearcats took the lead on a goal by Johnson with an assist coming from the stick of freshman forward Nadia Studnicka (Chillicothe, IL/Home School). At the end of the second period McKendree held a 3-2 lead over Colorado State. The Bearcats netted the only goal of the third period on an unassisted tally by Wentz.
 
Sunday morning the Bearcats played against the University of Colorado at 11:30 a.m. in Boulder, Colorado.
 
McKendree struggled early in the game, with Ash from the University of Colorado netting three goals in the first period. The Buffaloes added a fourth goal at the 13:23 mark of the second period, to give them a 4-0 lead over the Bearcats. McKendree was held scoreless until Albee found the back of the net with 4:31 left in the game. Both Taylor and Studnicka notched assists on Albee's goal.
 
Leading the team in goals on the weekend was Johnson, who found the back of the net three times, including one two-goal game. Johnson now has eight goals and two assists for ten points on the season. Taylor added three assists over the weekend, to give her seven assists and three goals for ten points on the season. Garrow found the back of the net twice this weekend and registered one assist for three points. Garrow has three goals and four assists for seven points this season. Albee and Wentz each had one goal and one assist for two points in the three games this weekend. Wentz has ten goals and four assists for 14 points, and Albee has six goals and two assists for eight points. Slisz found the back of the net twice, to give her four goals and one assist for five points on the season. Both Dietrich and Studnicka notched two assists a piece this weekend. The two are still yet to find the back of the net this season, but Dietrich has registered seven assists this season and Studnicka has collected six. Denton, Sauvola, and Christensen each found the back of the net once this weekend. Christensen scored her first career goal against Colorado State on Friday, she now has one goal and two assists for three points. Denton scored her second of the year to go along with her one assist for three points this season. Sauvola notched her third goal of the year, alongside her two assists for five points on the season.
 
Backstopping the Bearcats this weekend was freshman goaltender Haylee Gannaway (Moreno Valley, CA/Rancho Verde). She recorded two wins, and stopped 51 of 57 shots in Saturday and Sunday's games for a save percentage of 0.895 and goals-against average of 3.00.
 
 
"This was a long but successful weekend," said head coach Craig Buntenbach. "We came away with two wins against CSU and truly outplayed CU as a team, as they always rely on one player to score their goals, very proud of all the girls."