O'FALLON, Ill. | McKendree Metro Rec Plex - McKendree University women's hockey improved to 5-1-0 on the season and 4-1-0 in WMCH action as the Bearcats thumped Lindenwood in a Midnight puck drop on Friday night, well, Saturday morning with a 7-0 final score. Sophomore forward Alexandra Binning and freshman forward Klaire Essex both tallied a pair of scores to lead the attack with three more Bearcats firing a goal on the night. Junior goaltender Paige Hunt also earned the shutout with her performance, playing full time in goal for McKendree. The Bearcats get back on the ice next Friday and Saturday, October 17 and 18, with a road and then home game against Maryville.

The first period, on what quickly became Saturday morning, saw the Bearcats fire four goals to take a commanding lead early on. The eventual game-winner, which was scored by Binning, was sent in the eighth minute on a power play with assists going out to Essex and senior forward Jayna Barnden. The 1-0 lasted just over three minutes before McKendree began to build its lead with junior forward Julia Koski her first of the year with dish outs coming from freshman forward Olivia Imperato and junior defense Lilia Brown. Then to further extend the lead, Binning found the back of the net in the 13th minute to push the game to a 3-0 advantage for the Bearcats. About one minute later, in the 14th minute, Imperato collected her third score of the year and second point of the contest with a goal of her own off the helper by graduate forward Brittney Kambeitz. McKendree entered the early-morning intermission period with a 4-0 lead over the Lions.

The second period then began with a lot of back-and-forth offensive attempts with McKendree having four power play chances and Lindenwood owning one chance, none of which were converted. McKendree still capitalized on the period with three more goals, first with junior defense Allison Hoschka finding a gap in the Lion defense and converting for the fifth goal of the game, her second of the season. Imperato found herself assisting yet again along with graduate forward Larisa Gorgevska-Sharpe, pushing the lead out to 5-0 in the 14th minute of the second period. In the 18th minute of the period and the early hours of Saturday morning, Essex extended the lead for the Bearcats to 6-0, scoring her first collegiate goal with an assist out to junior forward Brooklynne Painter. To close out the period and just 30 seconds after her first collegiate score came a second goal for Essex as senior defense Julia Defosse and Hoschka each tallied an assist. 

The third period came and went without the Lions or Bearcats finding the back of the net as Hunt added another shutout to her goaltending resume with the result. McKendree ended the game with 45 shots on goal while Hunt grabbed 16 saves total on the day.