(ALBERT LEA, Minn., Nov. 17) – The McKendree University men's D1 hockey team completed the Midwest College Hockey (MCH) sweep of Waldorf University on Sunday night with an 8-2 victory.
                                                   
The Bearcats advance to 7-1 overall with a 5-1 mark in MCH play.
 
McKendree got off to a slow start, falling behind 1-0 after the opening period. The Bearcats fired 16 shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Bearcats answered in second period with four goals. Freshman Reilly DeGray (Smith Falls, Ontario, Canada/Smith Falls District Collegiate Institute) tied the game and then put the Bearcats ahead, scoring two goals in two minutes. Seniors Alec Nichols (Cedar Rapids, IA/Northern Iowa Bulls NA3HL) and Michael Weedman (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt North High School) assisted on the goals. Midway through the second period, senior Dominic Naas (Neurensdorf, Zurich, Switzerland/Casper Coyotes WSHL) recorded his 100th career goal as a Bearcat to extend the lead. Naas was assisted by Lazar Lestaric (Belgrade, Serbia/National Sports Academy USHS). Those two swapped places as Lestaric scored the fourth goal of the period on a Naas assist. The Warriors ended the streak of goals, scoring to make the game 4-2 heading into the third period.
 
McKendree continued their offensive momentum in the third period, netting another four goals. Sophomore Cory Robinson (St. Charles, MO/) opened the scoring in the period at the midway point with help from sophomore Otasowie Omoregie (Pickering, Ontario, Canada/). Six mminutes later, sophomore Nikita Sokov (Pervourlask, Russia/School #15) added in another on an unassisted goal. Junior Shayne Pluto (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Central Memorial High School) followed up quickly, scoring his first of the evening just 40 seconds later. Pluto was assisted by Lestaric and freshman Jerry Pan (New Taipei City, Taiwan/Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School).
 
With two seconds remaining in the game, DeGray finished off his hat trick with a pass from Nichols to seal an 8-2 victory, completing the sweep of Waldorf.
 
Sophomore goalie Wes Werner (LaSalle, Ontario, Canada/Sandwich Secondary School) made 27/29 saves in the win.
 
The Bearcats will be back in action next weekend, Nov. 22-23 as they host MCH opponent Midland University.