O'Fallon, IL - The McKendree University M1 Men's Hockey team (11-15, 4-6 MCH) had an entertaining non-conference matchup to start the 2026 portion of their schedule over the weekend, as the Bearcats welcomed the Northern Illinois Huskies for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday. McKendree raced out to a big lead early in the opener, eventually winning 9-3. Saturday's series finale was substantially closer, but the Bearcats continued to find the goal at a high rate, resulting in a 5-3 victory and a combined 14-6 outscoring of the Huskies. Tanner Bettis led the scoring, with a two-goal effort on Friday and a hat trick on Saturday. 

FRIDAY - McKENDREE 9, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 3
The Bearcats weren't waiting around on the attack in the first period, as goals from Kyle Munyankuge (assists Jonathan Davenport + Jacob Begich) and Jonathan Davenport (assists Ben Anderson + Cade Rosansky) had McKendree up 2-0 before the 12-minute mark of the period. Sawyer Lownsdale (assists Begich + Anderson) added a power play goal to give the Bearcats a commanding 3-0 lead after the first. Compared to the rest of the weekend, the first period was a quiet one in the penalty box, with only a two-minute roughing for the Bearcats. 

McKendree got off to an even quicker pace in the second period, as Trey Erramouspe (assists Alex Kent + Connor MacDonald), Rosansky (assists Joe McCormick + Matias Alexandrov), and Davenport (assists Erramouspe + Munyankuge) had doubled the Bearcat lead in a matter of nine minutes. Tanner Bettis got his weekend to remember going with a goal with about three minutes left in the period (assists Rycol Davis + MacDonald). The period was much busier in the penalty box, with McKendree accumulating a pair of two-minute trippings. Meanwhile, Northern Illinois was able to find its way to the scoreboard with a pair of goals, the latter of which was scored on the power play, but McKendree still led 7-2 going into the final period. 

At the clip the Bearcats had been scoring, it may have seemed as if it took a while, but Tanner Bettis scored once again, with assists from McCormick and Oliver Kiel. McKendree wouldn't score for roughly 10 more minutes, but the penalty rate exploded. While the Bearcats got a two-minute slashing and two-minute roughing, Northern Illinois had two roughing penalties and a slashing penalty, all adding up for five penalties in less than three minutes. Joe McCormick restored power to the game with one final goal, on the power play at that, with assists from Rosansky and Alexandrov to cap a goal-scoring firestorm and a six-goal margin of victory. 

Mason Haselhorst held his own in goal, stopping 27 of the 30 shots he faced. Perhaps a stat like this is possible due to a nine-goal effort, but the Bearcats saw six different players have at least two assists. 

SATURDAY - McKENDREE 5, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 3
The Bearcats didn't slow down going into the finale either. Granted, both teams started the game with a 10-minute scoring drought, but McKendree was still the first team to take control. Tanner Bettis (assists Rycol Davis + Ben Anderson) and Matteo Salvatore (assists Kyle Munyankuge + Joe McCormick) paired up to give the Bearcats a 2-goal lead. It was nearly a shutout in the first period, but NIU got one through with 37 seconds left in the period, making it 2-1 McKendree after one. It was a period that saw five penalties, and with Greyson Skirpan in goal for the day, the senior would stop five of six shots to keep the one-goal lead intact. 

Saturday's second period was the quietest when it came to scoring for the weekend, but there was still one goal apiece for both sides, with Bettis (assists Oliver Kiel + McCormick) scoring his second goal of the game. Penalties were a factor again, with five more coming through, totaling 10 penalties in the first two periods. The second period included interference, roughing, and a 10-minute misconduct for the Bearcats. Northern Illinois scored just before the eight-minute mark of the period, and the Bearcats took a 3-2 lead into the third. Skirpan was slightly busier in the second, but still stopped all but one of the shots he faced (7-of-8). 

While Northern Illinois would get a penalty for having too many men on the ice, after a penalty-filled weekend, that would be the only penalty of the final period. Sawyer Lownsdale (assists Bettis + McCormick) gave the Bearcats a two-goal lead with 11:57 left. Bettis would cap his weekend with a hat trick, giving McKendree a comfortable three-goal advantage with his third goal of the game (fifth of the weekend), with assists from Davenport + McCormick. The Huskies weren't quite done just yet, getting a goal with 49 seconds left to set the final score. It was Skirpan's busiest period in goal, but he was able to stop 11 of those 12 shots for a grand total of 23-of-26 for the game (88.5% save rate). 

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE BEARCATS
@ Drury Panthers (19-2)
Friday & Saturday, January 23rd & 24th
7PM (Friday) & 6PM (Saturday)
Brightspeed Ice Park - Springfield, MO
Watch Live; FRIDAY ONLY (YouTube)
Watch Live; SATURDAY ONLY (YouTube)