(O'FALLON, Ill., Feb. 22) – The McKendree University men's D1 hockey team completed the sweep of visiting Waldorf University on Saturday night with a 5-1 victory over the Warriors. The Bearcats held the Warriors offense in check, holding them to just 14 shots on the night.
 
The win pushes McKendree to 17-5 overall and 15-3 in Midwest College Hockey (MCH) play. The Bearcats will close out regular season action next weekend, Feb. 28-29 at home against Illinois State University.
 
Neither team found the back of the net in the opening period, despite 13 shots on goal from the home team. Senior Dominic Naas (Neurensdorf, Zurich, Switzerland/Casper Coyotes WSHL) broke the scoreless stretch after connecting with freshman Oscar Andersson (Stockholm, Sweden/Vasa Real) and senior Alec Nichols (Cedar Rapids, IA/Northern Iowa Bulls NA3HL). Two minutes later, sophomore Nikita Sokov (Pervourlask, Russia/School #15) buried a goal off a crossing pass from senior Tyler Wilson (Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada/) to put the Bearcats up 2-0.
 
Naas scored once again 33 seconds later on the power-play following passes from Wilson and Lazar Lestaric (Belgrade, Serbia/National Sports Academy USHS). Waldorf ended the shutout with nine minutes remaining in the period to record its only goal. Wilson beat the buzzer, scoring with just .2 remaining in the period to put the Bearcats up 4-1 heading into the final period. Freshman Bryce Dirscherl (San Diego, CA/Thunder Ridge High School) was credited with an assist.
 
Freshman Reilly DeGray (Smith Falls, Ontario, Canada/Smith Falls District Collegiate Institute) sealed the game with 14 minutes remaining in the third period with an assist from Nichols.
 
Between the pipes, Andrew Best (Midland, Ontario, Canada/Cambridge Bears Junior A team) made 13/14 saves in the victory, good for a .928 save percentage.