(BLOOMINGTON, Ill., Feb. 14) – The McKendree University men's D1 hockey team was defeated by Illinois State University on Friday night by the score of 4-2. The Bearcats will look for an even series tomorrow night at 7:00pm.
 
The loss puts McKendree at 14-5 overall and 12-3 in Midwest College Hockey (MCH) play.
 
Illinois State jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the opening period. Senior Dominic Naas (Neurensdorf, Zurich, Switzerland/Casper Coyotes WSHL) countered back to tie the game with two goals in 50 seconds with assists from freshman Ryan Radke (Cave Creek, AZ/Cactus Shadows High School) and Lazar Lestaric (Belgrade, Serbia/National Sports Academy USHS). After the first period, the game was even at 2-2.
 
The Redbirds scored the game-winning goal just past the midway point of the second period to take a 3-2 lead. Four minutes into the third period, Illinois State scored an insurance goal to secure a 4-2 victory over the Bearcats.
 
Sophomore goalie Wes Werner (LaSalle, Ontario, Canada/Sandwich Secondary School) made 25/29 saves in the game, for a .862 save percentage.