LEBANON, Ill. - No.7 McKendree University women's hockey (14-8-2, 4-7-2 WMCH) splits its regular season finale weekend, both games were against local-foe Lindenwood, with a home loss on February 17, 6-5, and a senior-night spoling win on February 18, 4-2. The Bearcats remain in the ACHA W1 top-10 entering the postseason as they take on rival Maryville in the first round of the WMCH Tournament on Thursday, February 23 at 11:30AM at the Maryville Ice Hockey Center.
Game 1 | February 17
The Bearcats looked to stride into the postseason with a weekend sweep over the Lions, beginning with a senior night victory but met a determined Lindenwood team on the evening.
McKendree went down 2-0 in the first period as Lindenwood capitalized on a number of opportunities, including a power play. The Lions added a third goal three minutes into the second period to go up 3-0. McKendree fought back with back-to-back goals as senior wing
Quinn Atchison scored just seconds after the puck dropped following the third LU score. Atchison got the pass from fellow senior and center
Camryn Scully, firing it into the net. Sophomore forward
Larisa Gorgevska-Sharpe then scored a second Bearcats goal with dish-outs from sophomore forward
Codi Bacon and freshman defender
Brooke Lannon. The power-play score by Gorgevska-Sharpe made it a 3-2 game. Lindenwood scored a fourth goal following the power play on a penalty shot. McKendree scored a third in the period as junior forward
Jaynee Smothers got a goal behind assists from Bacon and Lannon.
In the third and final period of the night, the Bearcats tied the game up at 4-4 with a score by sophomore forward
Kiley Hasenfratz three minutes into the period. Gorgevska-Sharpe and sophomore defender
Ashley Hayley nabbed assists on the score. Lindenwood managed two goals following the tying goal by McKendree.
With nine seconds left in the game, the Bearcats cut the deficit to just one goal as senior
Juliana Davis fired a goal off a dish-out by Hasenfratz and sophomore defender
Aria Groot.
The Bearcats couldn't muster a tying score in the final seconds, dropping the game, 6-5.
Junior
Brianna Burke and freshman
Rachel Staresinic split time in the net. Bruke grabbed 21 saves in 45 minutes while Staresinic collected six in 15 minutes.
SCORING
P2 | #14
Quinn Atchison via #22
Camryn Scully
P2 | #7
Larisa Gorgevska-Sharpe via #17
Codi Bacon, #4
Brooke Lannon
P2 | #41
Jaynee Smothers via #17
Codi Bacon, #4
Brooke Lannon
P3 | #96
Kiley Hasenfratz via #7
Larisa Gorgevska-Sharpe, #24
Ashley Hayley
P3 | #23
Juliana Davis via #96
Kiley Hasenfratz, #13
Aria Groot
Game 2 | February 18
McKendree looked to spoil the Lindenwood senior night celebrations on Saturday and pushed to end their regular season with a win on top of it.
The Lions scored quickly again with a pair in the first period, holding a 2-0 advantage to begin.
In the second period, the Bearcats cut the lead in half with a late goal by sophomore forward
Brittney Kambeitz with an assist by Groot. McKendre trailed 2-1 after the second 20 minutes of action.
The third period led to an intense McKendree attack with three Bearcat goals and the win. Davis fired the first in the fifth minute of play behind assists by Groot and sophomore forward
Isobelle Hobbs. Gorgevska Sharpe then scored another with Scully assisting on the goal. Freshman defender
Julia Defosse then scored an insurance goal in the closing seconds to hold onto the win for McKendree. Bearcats take game two on a 4-2 count.
Staresinic received the win in net for McKendree with 26 saves while logging full time on the ice.
SCORING
P2 | #11
Brittney Kambeitz via #13
Aria Groot
P3 | #23
Juliana Davis via #13
Aria Groot, #2
Isobelle Hobbs
P3 | #7
Larisa Gorgevska-Sharpe via #22
Camryn Scully
P3 | #91
Julia Defosse, unassisted
UP NEXT | WMCH Tournament
The Bearcats ranked-up to No.6 in the nation following the weekend and head to the WMCH conference tournament at Maryville this weekend. McKendree takes the 4-seed in the tournament and will play the host, Maryville, in the first round.
The first round game will be on Thursday, February 23, at 11:30AM. It can be live-streamed on
Youtube.
