O'FALLON, Ill. | McKendree Metro Metro Rec Plex - No.4 McKendree University women's hockey (12-9-1, 3-7-1 WMCH) hosted a trio of ranked games over the weekend, battling tough conference opponents and narrowly falling to No.1 Liberty, No.7 Minot State, and No.12 Jamestown. The Bearcats then headed across St. Louis for the inaugural WMCH All-Star game with six players representing McKendree and the East in the first-ever contest on Sunday afternoon. The East All-Stars came away with the inaugural win, 2-1, over the West. McKendree is back in action on February 3 and 4 at home against crosstown rival Lindenwood at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex.
GAME 1 vs. No.1 Liberty
McKendree opened the weekend slate on Thursday with a bout against top-ranked Liberty, which saw a nil-nil score at the end of the first period. The Bearcats then struck first in the second period as freshman forward
Brooklynne Painter scored her first collegiate goal to put McKendree on-top, 1-0. Painter's goal was assisted on by junior defense
Aria Groot and sophomore defense
Brooke Lannon.
The Flames then went on a tear to fire three goals in the second, including a pair of power play goals, to go up 3-1 on the Bearcats. Liberty added two more goals in the third period to take the game, 5-1.
The Bearcats out-shot the Flames, 19-16, while sophomore goaltender
Rachel Staresinic grabbed 11 saves.
Scoring
P2 | #16
Brooklynne Painter (1) via #13
Aria Groot (24), #4
Brooke Lannon (2)
GAME 2 vs. No.7 Minot State
The Bearcats looked to recover in the Friday afternoon matchup with seventh-ranked Minot State. The Bearcats grabbed a lead in both the first and second periods with sophomore forward
Jayna Barnden firing the opening score of the game, assisted by freshman forward
Abby Jeffers. The second goal was fired by freshman defense
Mya Kubrakovich (3) with senior forward
Jaynee Smothers and sophomore defense
Lilia Brown dishing-out assists. The Beavers had a response in both periods, keeping the game knotted a 2-2 following the second period.
Minot scored the game-winner early in the third with the Bearcats pushing through the final horn. The Bearcats out-shot the Beavers, 23-22, while Staresinic collected 20 saves in the game.
Scoring
P1 | #15
Jayna Barnden (11) via #3
Abby Jeffers (11)
P2 | #6
Mya Kubrakovich (3) via #41
Jaynee Smothers (5), #73
Lilia Brown (2)
GAME 3 vs. No.12 Jamestown
McKendree took an early lead in the third and final game of the weekend with Groot scoring on a power play in the first period. The power play goal was assisted on by Jeffers and Barnden. Jamestown tied the game in the second period in a power play of its own. Jamestown fired the game winner half-way throught the third period to take the game.
The Bearcats fired 34 shots on the day while Staresinic held full-time in goal with 25 saves.
Scoring
P1 | #13
Aria Groot (7) via #3
Abby Jeffers (12), #15
Jayna Barnden (13)
INAUGURAL WMCH ALL-STAR GAME
Six Bearcats represented McKendree in the first-ever WMCH All-Star game on Sunday afternoon at the Maryville Hockey Center. The six were part of the East squad (McKendree, Lindenwood, Maryville, and Liberty), which claimed a 2-1 victory over the West (Jamestown, Minot State, Minnesota, and Midland).
McKendree's inaugural WMCH All-Stars were
Abby Jeffers,
Aria Groot,
Jayna Barnden,
Kerstyn Barron,
Rachel Staresinic, and
Kiley Hasenfratz.
UP NEXT
February 3 | 12:30PM vs. Lindenwood | McKendree Metro Rec Plex - O'Fallon, Ill.
February 4 | 1:30PM vs. Lindenwood | McKendree Metro Rec Plex - O'Fallon, Ill.
