FREMONT, Neb. - McKendree's D-I Men's Hockey took on Midland University for the second consecutive night here Saturday evening.
The Bearcats struggled against the Warriors for the second straight night as McKendree fell 11-1 on Saturday after dropping a 2-1 decision on Friday evening.
Over the two nights against the Warriors, the Bearcats offense was held to a combined two goals in the two games.
Senior forward Nikita Sokov (Pervourlask, Russia/Marian University) scored his first goal of the season, while junior forward Ryan Radke (Cave Creek, Ariz./Cactus Shadows) picked up the assist on Sokov's goal. Sokov's goal was scored at the 8:15 mark of the first period.
Freshman goalie Chad Purdy (Springfield, Mo./Willard) had a tough night in between the pipes for McKendree allowing seven goals on 36 shots. Purdy was replaced by sophomore goalie Brady Weiss (Edmonton, Alberta/Archbishop O'Leary) at the 14:08 mark of the second period. Weiss finished out the remaining 22-plus minutes and ended up making 16 saves on the 20 shots he faced.
Midland's offense had 11 goals on 56 shots while McKendree scored one goal on 40 shots.
The Vikings had 14 players record points with eight of them recording multiple points on the night. The offense was led by Ondrej Blaha's hat trick, while he added an assist. Blaha had the game winning goal just 41 seconds after Sokov tied the game at 1-1. Jesse Stepp added two goals. Kamden Sengheiser, Blake Nerney, John Royer, and Mason Cirone also added a goal and an assist each. Vikings goalie Jaden Gardner made 39 saves on 40 shots in the Vikings win.
The Bearcats return to action on Friday, Oct. 22 at 7:30 p.m. as they host Illinois State University at McKendree Metro Rec Plex in O'Fallon, Ill.
