(O'FALLON, Ill., Feb. 7) – The McKendree University men's D1 hockey team opened up a Midwest College Hockey (MCH) series with Northern Illinois on Friday night, winning the first game in dominating fashion. Senior Tyler Wilson (Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada/) recorded a hat trick to push the Bearcats past the Huskies 7-2.
 
With the win, McKendree advances to 13-4 overall and 11-2 in MCH play. The Bearcats will look for a sweep of Northern Illinois, Saturday at 5:00pm.
 
Freshman Reilly DeGray (Smith Falls, Ontario, Canada/Smith Falls District Collegiate Institute) put McKendree ahead with five minutes remaining in the opening period, knocking in a loose puck while lying on the ice. Ty Watt (Barrie, Ontario, Canada/Rama Aces GMHL) was credited with an assist. With one minute left in the period, senior Alec Nichols (Cedar Rapids, IA/Northern Iowa Bulls NA3HL) scored after crashing to the net with a pass from Wilson. After the opening period, the Bearcats led 2-0.
 
Wilson scored the first goal five minutes into the middle period off passes from junior Aleks Ivasenko (Riga, Latvia/Riga 1 Distance Education High School) and freshman Bryce Dirscherl (San Diego, CA/Thunder Ridge High School). Minutes later, Watt notched his first of the game with help from junior Daniel Nordlander (Göteborg, Sweden/Wasaskolan Tingsryd) and freshman Oscar Andersson (Stockholm, Sweden/Vasa Real). Senior Dominic Naas (Neurensdorf, Zurich, Switzerland/Casper Coyotes WSHL) extended the lead to 5-0 after connecting with Lazar Lestaric (Belgrade, Serbia/National Sports Academy USHS) and Nordlander. After the Huskies ended the shutout, Wilson answered back six seconds later, receiving a pass from Naas right off the faceoff. The Bearcats would carry a 6-1 lead into the final period of play.
 
Six minutes into the final period, Wilson capped off the hat trick to close out the McKendree scoring. Andersson and Nordlander were credited with the helpers. Northern Illinois scored a late goal with the Bearcats securing a 7-2 win.
 
Freshman goalie Kayne Pasquet (Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada/Peacock Collegiate) recorded 18/20 saves, good for a .900 save percentage.