(O'FALLON, Ill., Jan. 26) – The McKendree University men's D2 hockey team secured the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association (MACHA) Gold Division regular season title Saturday afternoon, on Senior Day with an 11-2 victory over Northern Illinois University.
 
The Bearcats move to 21-4-1 overall on the season and finish with a 17-1 record in the MACHA.
 
Northern Illinois jumped ahead first with a goal 10 minutes into the opening period. McKendree quickly answered as freshman Trevor Wolf (Wellington, FL/Wellington High School)e fired a wrist shot from the blue line into the back of the net. With four minutes on the clock, junior Dominic Naas (Neurensdorf, Zurich, Switzerland/Casper Coyotes WSHL) buried his first of night on the power-play off a rebound from sophomore Shayne Pluto's (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Central Memorial High School) previous shot to give the Bearcats the lead. The Huskies tied the game at two shortly before the first intermission.
 
Naas put the Bearcats ahead 3-2 as he knocked in a loose puck in the crease. While on the power-play, sophomore Ryan Reader (Granite City, IL/Granite City High School) sent a shot from the blue line past the Northern Illinois netminder for McKendree's second power-play goal of the game. Five minutes later, freshman Cory Robinson (St. Charles, MO) recorded his first collegiate goal as he sliced through the Husky defense. 21 seconds later, Pluto netted his first goal of the afternoon off a pass from senior Lazar Lestaric (Belgrade, Serbia/National Sports Academy USHS). After the flurry of goals, McKendree carried a 6-2 lead into the final period.
 
Junior Tyler Wilson (Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada) notched his first of the game as he cut in front of the net and buried it into the back of the net. Sophomore Tyler Estermyer (Plano, TX/East Lake High School) caught an outlet pass and lit the lamp as he gave McKendree an 8-2 lead. Further extending the lead was sophomore Connor Brennan (Castle Rock, CO/Regis Jesuit High School) when he put away a loose puck in the crease to record his first of the contest. Robinson scored his second goal, a short-handed goal to push the lead to eight. Pluto closed out the Bearcat scoring as he buried a one-timer into the back of net. The score would hold as McKendree went on to win 11-2 over the Huskies from Northern Illinois.
 
Freshman goalie Wes Werner (LaSalle, Ontario, Canada/Sandwich Secondary School) recorded 16/18 saves in the contest for a .888 save percentage.
 
The Bearcats will return to the ice on Jan. 30 for a battle with Lindenwood University. The game is set for 7:30p.m.