O'FALLON, Ill. | McKendree Metro Rec Plex - No.5 McKendree University women's hockey (13-9-2) fought through a tough regional rival matchup on its home ice this weekend, drawing and then defeating No.15 Lindenwood on Saturday and Sunday. The Bearcats and Lions tied on Saturday, 1-1, before the Bearcats collected a 3-2 victory on Sunday afternoon. McKendree improves to 3-0-1 against Lindenwood on the campaign. The Bearcats take on Maryville in their next home game on February 9 at 4:15PM at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex.
Game 1 | Saturday, February 3 (Box)
The Bearcats and Lions battled early in the opening game of the weekend with Lindenwood striking in the first two minutes of the game. The Lions held a 1-0 advantage through the first period.
McKendree found the back of the net nearly half-way through the second 20 minutes of play with sophomore forward
Jayna Barnden scoring her 12th of the year as junior defense and freshman forward
Abby Jeffers each got an assist on the play.
The scoring subsided following McKendree's tying-goal, pushing the game to overtime where there were zero goals fired. Sophomore goaltender
Rachel Staresinic grabbed 11 saves in the effort. The Bearcats fired 47 shots on goal in the contest.
SCORING
P1 | #15
Jayna Barnden (12) via #13
Aria Groot (25), #3
Abby Jeffers (13)
Game 2 | Sunday, February 4 (Box)
The Bearcats went off early with two first period goals as junior forward
Kiley Hasenfratz scored the opener only six minutes into play, giving McKendree a 1-0 advantage. Groot and freshman forward
Julia Koski both dished-out the helpers on the goal. In the following minutes, the Bearcats tallied another score as senior forward
Jaynee Smothers fired her fifth of the campaign in unassisted fashion. The Lions put up one score in the first, making McKendree's lead 2-1 at the end of the first 20 minutes of play.
Lindenwood tied the game up early in the second period during a power play. McKendree struck back with the game-winner in the eighth minute of the period behind Hasenfratz's second score of the contest. The game-winner was assisted on by Groot and junior forward
Larisa Gorgevska-Sharpe.
Staresinic earned the win in goal, grabbing 16 saves on the day.
SCORING
P1 | #96
Kiley Hasenfratz (8) via #40
Julia Koski (4), #13
Aria Groot (26)
P1 | #41
Jaynee Smothers (5), unassisted
P2 | #96
Kiley Hasenfratz (9) via #7
Larisa Gorgevska-Sharpe (7), #13
Aria Groot (27)
NOTES
McKendree improved to 3-0-1 against Lindenwood on the 2023-24 campaign.
Sophomore forward
Jayna Barnden became the program's fastest player to 50 career points on her goal in the first game of the weekend, achieving the feat in just 45 games. Junior defense
Aria Groot dished-out her 50th career assist on the Barnden goal.
UP NEXT
February 9 | 4:15PM vs Maryville | O'Fallon, Illinois - McKendree Metro Rec Plex
