(ST. LOUIS, Mo., March 7) – The McKendree University D1 hockey team advanced to the championship of the Midwest College Hockey (MCH) Tournament following a 7-6 overtime win against Maryville University on Saturday night.
 
The Bearcats move to 19-5-1 overall on the season.
 
McKendree held a 4-1 lead after the first period. Senior Dominic Naas (Neurensdorf, Zurich, Switzerland/Casper Coyotes WSHL) scored the first two goals with assists from freshman Ryan Radke (Cave Creek, AZ/Cactus Shadows High School), sophomore Nikita Sokov (Pervourlask, Russia/School #15), and Lazar Lestaric (Belgrade, Serbia/National Sports Academy USHS). Ty Watt (Barrie, Ontario, Canada/Rama Aces GMHL) pushed the lead to two with help from freshman Oscar Andersson (Stockholm, Sweden/Vasa Real). Sophomore Cory Robinson (St. Charles, MO/) extended the lead further on an unassisted goal with three minutes remaining in the period.
 
Watt netted his second goal of the night eight minutes into the second period after connecting with senior Tyler Wilson (Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada/). Just two minutes later, Wilson pushed the lead to 6-1 following a pass from Lestaric. Maryville answered back two goals in the second period to cut the lead to 6-3 heading into the final period.
 
The Saints found an offensive groove, scoring three goals in the final period to push the contest to overtime.
 
Three minutes into the overtime period, junior Shayne Pluto (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Central Memorial High School) scored the game-winning goal, unassisted to give McKendree a 7-6 victory.