O'FALLON, Ill. | McKendree Metro Rec Plex - Fourth-ranked McKendree Unversity women's hockey (7-1-0, 6-1-0 WMCH) captured a pair of victories this weekend over top-ranked Maryville first on Friday, 6-4, behind six goal scorers and a 30-save performance from senior goaltender Rachel Staresinic and then ousting the Saints on Saturday, 5-4, with two third-period goals. The Bearcats blasted the Saints early on Friday with five goals in the first 20 minutes and then barricaded the Maryville attack while the Saturday battle featured a strong comeback effort from the Bearcats to upend the Saints late. No.4 McKendree has now won three straight games over the Saints while taking the all-time series lead at 12-11-1. The Bearcats remain at home for Homecoming weekend with a two-game set versus Midland on October 23 and 24, both with 2:00PM puck drops at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex. 

Friday, October 17 | @ Maryville | W, 6-4
The rivalry weekend saw the No.4 Bearcats take on a more than familiar foe in new No.1 Maryville and the fourth-ranked McKendree squad jumped at the opportunity in front of it. THe first period saw a plethora of scoring with McKendree firing five goals overall. The first two came in the third minute as the opening goal was scored by junior forward Brooklynne Painter, an unassisted goal, for teh 1-0 advantage. Shortly after, McKendree found a 2-0 lead with senior forward Jayna Barnden firing the score with a dish out from senior forward Kerstyn Barron. Near the mid point of the period, sophomore forward Alexandra Binning then tallied the Bearcats' second unassisted goal of the weekend, which put McKendree up 3-0 on the host, top-ranked Maryville. Over the closing three minutes of the first period, the visiting Bearcats put up two more goals as junior defense Allison Hoschka scored on a power play with assists going out to freshman forward Olivia Imperato and Binning. McKendree's fifth and final goal of the first period was found in the final minute of action as Barron got the dish out from freshman defense Hazel Toepfer and sent the puck into the back of the net. McKendree led 5-3 in the high-scoring affair after the first 20 minutes of play.

The second period, surprisingly, saw no goals come through, putting the third period at a two-goal advantage for the Bearcats. McKendree struck first in the third period as senior forward Janaya Laqua fired the sixth goal of the contest with senior defense Lilia Brown and Imperato adding the helpers. 

McKendree toppled the newly minted top-ranked Saints, 6-4, after the Saints managed one final score in the third. Senior goaltender Rachel Staresinic grabbed the win and 30 saves in the contest. 

GOALS
P1 | #16 Brooklynne Painter, unassisted
P1 | #15 Jayna Barnden via #22 Kerstyn Barron
P1 | #28 Alexandra Binning, unassisted
P1 | #23 Allison Hoschka via #13 Olivia Imperato, #28 Alexandra Binning
P1 | #22 Kerstyn Barron via #55 Hazel Toepfer
P3 | #14 Janaya Laqua via #73 Lilia Brown, #13 Olivia Imperato

Saturday, October 18 | vs. Maryville | W, 5-4
Following the Friday trouncing of the No.1 Saints, the Bearcats sought to capitalize again in the local-foe rivalry. Early in the game, the No.4 Bearcats did just that as senior forward Jayna Barnden found the first goal of the game in the second minute as senior forward Kerstyn Barron and junior forward Abby Jeffers dished out the helpers. McKendree held a 1-0 advantage for over 10 minutes as the Saints tied the game in the 13th during a McKendree penalty kill opportunity. The top-five match up finished the first period knotted at 1-1. 

The second period saw the Bearcats go down, 2-1, quick but that did not slow down the attack from McKendree as the Bearcats tied the contest at 2-2 in the 11th minute. Senior defense Lilia Brown fired her first goal of the campaign with Jeffers and Barron getting the assists, once again. The Bearcats then found themselves in a penalty kill situation in the 12th minute as No.1 Maryville added a goal to make it a 3-2 contest. Then in the 20th minute of the second period, the Bearcats sat in a short-handed scenario but graduate forward Brittney Kambeitz did not fret as she swiped the puck and went down the ice for the game-tying score. The second period closed with a 3-3 tie between the rivals. 

A decisive third period was needed from the Bearcats to once again take down the No.1 Saints and it did not come easy. The Saints managed to take a 4-3 lead in the fifth minute of the third and final period. In the 12th minute, after a lengthy push from McKendree, freshman defense Hazel Toepfer connected on her shot to put the game into another 4-4 lock with the assist going out to sophomore forward Alexandra Binning. With the contest locked at four goals a piece, the two squads went to war for supremacy with the Bearcats finding a powerful push in the 15th minute as the puck found the stick of freshman forward Klaire Essex. Essex blasted a shot from deep and found the back of the net for the 5-4 lead and the eventual game-winner. McKendree held off the Saints to claim a third-straight win against its local foe. 

Staresinic grabbed another win in goal with 24 more saves in the Saturday bout over the Saints.

GOALS
P1 | #15 Jayna Barnden (3) via #22 Kerstyn Barron (2), #3 Abby Jeffers (3)
P2 | #73 Lilia Brown (1) via #3 Abby Jeffers (4), #22 Kerstyn Barron (3) 
P2 | #11 Brittney Kambeitz (3) via #73 Lilia Brown (3), #25 Charlotte Cloutier (2) - SH
P3 | #55 Hazel Toepfer (2) via #28 Alexandra Binning (1)
P3 | #93 Klaire Essex (3) via #28 Alexandra Binning (2), #91 Julia Defosse (3)


UP NEXT
Thursday, Oct. 23 | 2:00PM vs Midland | McKendree Metro Rec Plex - O'Fallon, Illinois | Watch
Friday, Oct. 24 | 2:00PM vs Midland | McKendree Metro Rec Plex - O'Fallon, Illinois | Watch

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