(LEBANON, Ill., Sept. 20) – The McKendree University men's D2 hockey team is set to open their season tonight, Sept. 20, on road verse Saint Louis University. The Bearcats are fresh at the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division-II level this season after moving up from Division-III.
Last season, McKendree finished with a 9-13 overall record and advanced to the ACHA Pacific Region tournament where they were defeated by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The 2019-20 season will mark the first for head coach
Dylan Mueth. Mueth returns to McKendree after playing four seasons with the Bearcats where he then served as an assistant after graduation. "I am expecting our team to come out and work hard day to day," said Mueth. "I am not as concerned about results as I am with seeing our players doing what the coaching staff asks of them and learning from our experiences. Embracing the journey the entire way."
The Bearcats return their top two scorers in juniors
Derek Northrop (St. Louis, MO/De Smet Jesuit High School) and
Garrett Poole (Columbia, IL/Columbia High School). Northrop racked up 17 goals and nine assists for a total of 26 points while Poole followed closely behind with eight goals and 16 assists for 24 points. Junior
Adam Dempski (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell North HS) joins the team after totaling 10 goals, 12 assists, and 22 points last season with the now D-I squad. "All three are very fun to watch in practice so I am very excited to see what they can for us in the offensive zone this season, " said Mueth. "All three bring a different element which can make things tricky for the opposition."
On the back end, senior
Nick Gay (Pinedale, WY), junior
Riley Brown (Granite City, IL/Granite City High School), and sophomore
Trevor Wolf (Wellington, FL/Wellington High School) have size are expected to see big minutes. Junior
Tyler Estermyer (Plano, TX/East Lake High School) moves back to defense after playing last season at forward. "Estermyer has the ability to also play forward so he can jump into the rush which we expect a lot of this season," said Mueth.
Between the pipes, sophomore
Joey Bernardini (Chesterfield, MO/Christian Brothers College High School) returns after posting a 3-5 record, 3.25 goals against average, and .893 save percentage with one shutout. With the graduation of
Zachary Allen (Wexford, PA/North Allegheny), the Bearcats will turn to freshmen
Mason Young (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville High School) and
Adam Siek (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada/St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School).
With the advancement to the D-II level, the Bearcats will join the Mid-America Collegiate Hockey Association (MACHA) Gold Division after playing in the Silver Division last season.
