(CHESTERFIELD, Mo., Jan. 18) – The McKendree University men's D1 hockey team notched a 5-1 win on the road over Maryville on Saturday night, scoring five unanswered goals to power past the Saints.
 
The Bearcats move to 9-2 overall and 7-2 in Midwest College Hockey (MCH) play.
 
Maryville scored the first goal of the game halfway through the opening period to take an early lead. The Bearcats evened the game with one minute remaining with a goal from sophomore Nikita Sokov (Pervourlask, Russia/School #15) with help from freshman Bryce Dirscherl (San Diego, CA/Thunder Ridge High School). After the first 20 minutes, the two teams were knotted at one apiece.
 
 Neither team found the back of the net in the second period, as the game went into the third period even at one. Ty Watt (Barrie, Ontario, Canada/Rama Aces GMHL) scored the game-winning goal 49 seconds into the third period with assists from freshman Oscar Andersson (Stockholm, Sweden/Vasa Real) and senior Tyler Wilson (Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada/). Watt scored his second consecutive goal with six minutes remaining to push the lead to two. Sophomore Cory Robinson (St. Charles, MO/) and Wilson were credited with assists. Junior Shayne Pluto (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Central Memorial High School) added to the lead with his first following a pass from Andersson, his second assists of the game.
 
Junior Daniel Nordlander (Göteborg, Sweden/Wasaskolan Tingsryd) sealed the game, scoring a goal with just over a minute remaining in the game. Wilson and Pluto were given assists on the goal. The goal gave McKendree a 5-1 victory over Maryville.
 
Andrew Best (Midland, Ontario, Canada/Cambridge Bears Junior A team) made 22/23 saves in the win, good for a .956 save percentage.
 
The Bearcats close the series with Maryville on Monday, January 20 at 1:00pm.