(O'FALLON, Ill., Oct. 12) – Junior Derek Northrop (St. Louis, MO/De Smet Jesuit High School) recorded a hat trick to lead the McKendree D2 hockey team to an 11-2 rout of the University of Illinois to split the series on Saturday night. The Bearcats fell behind 2-0 before answering back with 11 unanswered goals.
 
The Bearcats move back to .500 with a 2-2 overall record.
 
After falling behind 2-0 four minutes into the game, McKendree answered with five goals in the first period. One minute after the Fighting Illini scored their second goal, junior Derek Northrop (St. Louis, MO/De Smet Jesuit High School) cut into the lead with a pass from junior Adam Dempski (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell North HS). Senior Nathan Gaterman (St. Louis, MO/Lindbergh High School) connected with Northrop to tie the game at two. Quickly after, junior Christian Blandina (Glen Carbon, IL/Edwardsville High School) pushed McKendree ahead with assists from junior Riley Brown (Granite City, IL/Granite City High School) and freshman Noah Scrum (Maryville, IL/Collinsville High School).
 
Junior Dalton Wolfe (Pekin, IL/Pekin Community High School) added to the lead with help from Brown and Blandina. With 20 seconds left in the first period, Northrop netted his second goal of the game to give the Bearcats a 5-2 lead heading into the first intermission. Junior Logan Bielecke (Glen Carbon, IL) and Dempski were credited with the assists.
 
Northrop wasted no time getting a hat trick, scoring his third goal midway through the second period. Only 30 seconds later, Dempski jumped in the scoring column to give McKendree a five goal lead. Junior Nick Nelson (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell High School) closed out the second period scoring with help from Blandina as the Bearcats held an 8-2 lead after two periods of play.
 
Scrum scored his first goal of the game with help from Nelson. Blandina found the back of the net for his second goal of the game, McKendree's 10^th goal of the game. Sophomore Cayden Brilley (Decatur, IL/St. Teresa) scored his first goal of the game as he caught passes from Wolfe and Estermyer.
 
Freshman goalie Adam Siek (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada/St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School) made 27/29 saves, good for a .931 save percentage.
 
The Bearcats will be back at it on Oct. 18 as they open up a series with Maryville University.