O'FALLON, Ill. – Opening up the 2025 portion of their schedule, the McKendree University men's hockey team hosted the Missouri State University Bears for a two-game set at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex. The Bears took both games by the scores of 5-3 and 6-5 (OT).
Game 1 – Friday, January 10th
The Bears wasted no time getting in the scoring column as they scored two goals in the opening 90 seconds of the contest. The rest of the first period was quiet.
Alex Kent netted his fifth of the season at the 1:51 mark of the second period to cut the lead in half with the assist coming from Jacob Begich. MSU struck for two more goals in the middle part of the stanza to extend the lead out to 4-1. With two minutes remaining in the period, Tarcisius Tibishkogijig fired one from the point on the powerplay for his second of the year as Rycol Davis and Bennett Uchacz collected the helpers.
In the opening moments of the final period, Jack Harris inched the Bearcats closer with this 13th of the season to make it a 4-3 game, with Cade Rosansky collecting the assist. The Bears rounded out the scoring two minutes later to make it the 5-3 final.
Chad Purdy took the loss in net for McKendree stopping 40 of 45 MSU shots.
Game 2 – Saturday, January 11th
The second game of the weekend was a back-and-forth affair and it took extra hockey to decide the winner. Missouri State got on the board first at the five-minute mark. Trey Erramouspe got the equalizer on a shorthanded breakaway as Blake Martin sprung him free at the 13:12 mark. Unfortunately, Missouri State took the 2-1 lead going into the locker room with the goal 11 seconds left in the stanza.
Martin tied the contest at 2 seven minutes into the middle frame with Davis and Rosansky picking up the assists. MSU took the two-goal lead going into the break with two goals in the second half of the 2nd period.
The game was far from over as the Bearcats mounted a third-period comeback. It started with a Kyle Munyankuge goal at the 6:30 mark of the final frame with the assist coming from Begich. With McKendree on the powerplay, Rosansky found the back of the net on the assists from Alex Kent and Begich to tie the contest at 4. The Bears went back in front at the 10:31 mark, but just 70 seconds later, McKendree found the equalizer for the third time in the game. Joe McCormick netted a shot on the assists from Brady Nance and Trey Erramouspe.
With the game tied at 5, the teams went to a 3-on-3, five-minute overtime period. MSU would only need two-plus minutes of extra hockey to end the game and take the 6-5 win.
Chad Purdy was in net for McKendree, stopping 38 of 44 shots in the overtime loss.
Up next for the Bearcats, is three games at the ACHA m1 Showcase hosted by Maryville University.
