O'Fallon, IL - The McKendree University M1 Men's Hockey Team returned to its home ice at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex on Wednesday night, hosting a familiar foe in the Maryville Saints. The Saints were quick to the scoreboard in the first period, and would eventually lead by as many as five goals before the Bearcats snuffed the shutout attempt with a goal from
Cade Rosansky in the third period to set the 5-1 final score.
The evening opened with Maryville applying pressure, and the Saints broke through early. 22 seconds into the period, Vito Biondo finished off a setup from Brett Ursulak to give the visitors the first strike. McKendree looked to settle in, but penalties would come into play. The Bearcats were whistled for three separate infractions in the opening period, and the Saints capitalized. At the 4:20 mark of the opening period, Lucas Adams converted a power play chance off a feed from Jackson Zloty to stretch the deficit to two. Despite stretches of offensive zone time and physical play along the boards, McKendree went to the locker room down 2-0 after 20 minutes.
The second period saw the Bearcats find more rhythm at even strength. The defense tightened, as McKendree's
Dylan Dallaire turned aside a wave of shots to keep the margin steady, and penalty killers came through on two Saints power plays. The Bearcats drew a pair of Maryville penalties in the frame, including a trip and interference, but couldn't find the finishing touch on the man advantage. Even so, McKendree's pace through the neutral zone began to generate chances, with forwards pushing pucks deep and establishing pressure. Dallaire closed the period with 30 saves already under his belt, keeping his team within striking distance heading into the third.
A payoff would come midway through the final period. Although Maryville had scored 10 seconds into the period, the Bearcats broke through for their first marker, as
Cade Rosansky delivered, burying a chance created by both
Rycol Davis and
Ben Anderson with 13:49 left. The tally cut the deficit to 2-1 and ignited both the McKendree bench and the home crowd. For a stretch, momentum belonged to the Bearcats, but the Saints managed a timely response. At 19:50, Zloty restored a two-goal cushion. Maryville then pushed further ahead at 15:57 with a goal from Jack Henderson, followed by Max Wagener setting the final margin with 11:38 left.
Even as the score line widened, McKendree continued to battle. Penalty trouble returned late in the period with three more whistles, but the Bearcats leaned on both goaltenders to stay on track. Dallaire finished with 43 saves in 49 minutes of action before giving way to
Greyson Skirpan, who stopped all five shots he faced in relief. Offensively, McKendree fired 22 shots on target, with Rosansky's goal serving as the breakthrough.
HE SAID IT - QUOTES FROM COACH BRETT DENAP
On being able to play a game on the home ice for the first time this season
"It's always fun to play at home. We are so fortunate to be at McKendree and have the facility we have."
On the Maryville matchup, its physicality, and balancing it all
"We were as prepared as we've ever been, knowing what to expect from them, and being right about the stuff we predicted that would do."
On not metaphorically melting after the two first-minute goals in the first and third periods from Maryville
"Nothing but hats off to that position (goalies) for doing that as well as they do. Huge kudos to Dylan, after giving up that first one as quickly as we did, it's a testament to his mental strength. They're alone. They can't hear me motivating the team from the bench. That's great from them."
On Cade Rosansky's goal and his overall efforts in the game
"Cade is a forward for us, usually. He was playing defense tonight. He's a fantastic hockey player all-around. As a senior, I'd say he's a leader for us too when he's at his best. The goal would, for me, be more reflective of how good our power play has been."
On preaching the importance of stamina over such a busy start to the schedule
"We schedule for our team to be the best team they can be by the end of February, start of March. The stamina is important. It's very important. This (the schedule) is what it's going to look like when it comes to playoff hockey. We're trying to prepare our depth. Realistically, we're going to have to have guys in and out, just to keep them fresh."
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE BEARCATS
@ Missouri State Ice Bears
at Brightspeed Ice Park - Springfield, MO
Friday & Saturday, September 19th & 20th
Puck Drops | 7PM (Friday) and 6PM (Saturday)
