(EAST ALTON, Ill., Oct. 21) – The McKendree University men's D3 hockey team put on an offensive show on Friday night as they scored 15 goals in route of a shutout and carried that offense over into a 11-3 victory on Saturday afternoon verse Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.
Game One
Christian Blandina (Glen Carbon, IL/Edwardsville High School) got the Bearcats off to a fast start as he buried his first of the game just a minute into the opening period.
Derek Northrop (St. Louis, MO/De Smet Jesuit High School) added to the midway through the period as he netted his first.
Logan Bielecke (Glen Carbon, IL) extended the lead as he put his first past the Cougar goaltender.
Tony Grasso (O'Fallon, MO/De Smet Jesuit High School) finished out the first period scoring as he put McKendree up 4-0 after the opening period.
The scoring didn't stop as
Brent Feltes (St. Louis, MO/DeSmet Jesuit) added his first of the game.
Trevor Rieck (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon Township High School) scored back to back goals further extending the Bearcat lead.
Riley Brown (Granite City, IL/Granite City High School) would light the lamp with consecutive goals to put the Bearcats up 9-0.
Nick Brendel (Fenton, MO/Fox High School) wouldn't be left off the scoring sheet as he got his first.
Dalton Wolfe (Pekin, IL/Pekin Community High School) buried his first of the game to extend the lead to 11. Northrop got his second of the game just seconds later. Blandina scored his second of the game to close out the 10 goal second period.
Ethan Gremminger (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt North High School) would finish the scoring the Bearcats as they would win 15-0 again the Cougars. Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.
"The team played with a chip on their shoulders so I'm excited to see if they can bring the same intensity two days in a row," said McKendree D3 head coach
Brett DeNap.
Game Two
The offensive momentum carried over into Saturday as McKendree finished the sweep with a 11-3 victory. The Bearcats fell behind early 2-0 but answered back with seven unanswered goals. Poole got the scoring started midway through the first period. Rieck tied the game at two with his first goal of the game just minutes later. Brown gave McKendree the lead as he lit the lamp for the first time. Poole netted his second goal of the game and the Bearcats held a 4-2 lead heading into the first intermission.
Nelson kicked off the scoring in the second period as he scored his first. Gremminger extended the lead as he contributed his first of the afternoon. Northrop got his first and he put the puck past the Cougar goaltender. Rieck scored his second of the game to give McKendree an 8-3 lead.
Cayden Brilley (Decatur, IL) and
Nathan Gaterman (St. Louis, MO/Lindbergh High School) added their first goals of the series in the final period. Poole closed out his hat trick in the final seconds to give McKendree an 11-3 win to finish off the sweep.
The D3 Bearcats will continue their road trip when they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to face the Razorbacks of University of Arkansas on October 26-27.
