(EAST ALTON, Ill., Oct. 21) – The McKendree University men's D3 hockey team defeated Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville by a score of 7-2 on Friday night in East Alton, Ill.
 
The Bearcats improve to 4-1 on the season with the victory over SIUE. McKendree struck first in the game on a goal by senior forward Garrett Kellam (St. Joseph, MO/Central), giving the Bearcats a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period. Freshman forward Christian Blandina (Glen Carbon, IL/Edwardsville High School) lit the lamp in the second period to give McKendree the two goal lead. Senior defenseman Nick Brendel (Fenton, MO/Fox) added to the lead shortly after, to extend the Bearcats lead to three. Freshman forward Derek Northrop (St. Louis, MO/De Smet Jesuit High School) and sophomore forward Michael Weedman (O'Fallon, MO/St. Peters Spirit) connected twice, with Northrop netting one goal in the second period and one in the third period. SIUE found the back of the net first in the third period, and would add one more but would come up short. As McKendree added two more goals in the third period, from freshman defenseman Riley Brown (Granite City, IL/Granite City High School) and freshman forward Tony Grasso (O'Fallon, MO/De Smet Jesuit High School). The Bearcats grabbed a 7-2 victory on the road over SIUE, with the second game of the series on Saturday night at 8 p.m.