O'Fallon, IL - The McKendree University M3 Hockey team opened its 2026-2027 season on Friday night with a new era underway. Noah Scrum was named the Head Coach in the offseason, and the M3 Bearcats are also now members of the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association (MACHA). Their opponent, the Saint Louis Billikens, is also a member of that conference. The game got off to an extremely physical start, but the Bearcats (1-0-0, 1-0-0) held their ground, pulling ahead in the second period before eventually coming away with a 5-1 victory, led by a two-goal effort from Braden Neff.
BEARCATS SET THE TONE EARLY
McKendree established the physical nature of the game early and carried that momentum into a strong opening period.
A heavy Bearcat hit near the boards helped ignite the game's first scoring opportunity, as Drew Maurer found the back of the net moments later at the 16:42 mark to give McKendree a 1-0 advantage.
The opening minutes featured possession moving in both directions, with Saint Louis showing an ability to match the Bearcats' physicality. As the period progressed, however, the Bearcats began to take control. McKendree built a sizeable advantage in shots on goal, at one point holding a 10-1 edge, while consistently holding onto possession and keeping the turnovers to a minimum.
The Billikens generated their best stretches of offense while the Bearcats were on the penalty kill, but the McKendree defense repeatedly kept the Billikens away from scoring. When SLU did break through, Dominic Hite was there, including the first glove save he needed to make at the 5:52 mark.
The Bearcats nearly doubled their advantage late in the frame, but the Billiken goaltender denied the opportunity with an impressive sprawling save with 4:34 remaining to keep the lead intact at 1-0.
McKENDREE CREATES SEPARATION
The second period opened with a more even stretch of possession as the two sides settled into a relatively quiet start. The physicality picked back up near the midway point, including a brief exchange of pleasantries around the 11:30 mark.
McKendree continued to create opportunities through its puck movement. Even after a Bearcat was tripped with 10:40 remaining, McKendree maintained the play long enough to put another shot on goal.
The Bearcats finally broke through for some insurance with 5:12 remaining. Lucas Woods worked his way through the Saint Louis defense, found an opening and slipped the puck into the bottom-left corner of the net to extend the McKendree advantage to 2-0.
Just over a minute later, the Bearcats struck again. Tommy Johnston delivered a well-placed pass to Braden Neff, who finished the opportunity with 3:55 remaining to make it 3-0.
Saint Louis broke through just before the intermission. Playing on the power play, the Billikens converted on a deflection in front of the net with 22.8 seconds remaining, trimming McKendree's advantage to 3-1 heading to the third period.
BEARCATS CRUISE TO THE FINISH
Any momentum Saint Louis hoped to carry into the third period was quickly erased.
Neff recorded his second goal of the afternoon at the 16:21 mark, redirecting the puck into the net to restore McKendree's three-goal advantage at 4-1.
From there, the Bearcats continued to dominate possession and largely kept Saint Louis from mounting a serious comeback attempt.
McKendree put the finishing touch on the victory with 8:34 remaining. A scramble developed in front of the Saint Louis net before Atticus Arth collected the loose puck and finished the opportunity off a deflection for the Bearcats' fifth and final goal.
Hite finished with 22 saves on 23 Saint Louis shots as McKendree closed out the 5-1 victory.
The Bearcats were whistled for just five minor penalties in the game, with three coming during the first period.
UP NEXT
McKendree and Saint Louis complete the home-and-home series today at 2:30 PM at Webster Ice Arena in Webster Groves, Missouri. The next home game is Saturday, September 19th at 5:00 PM against Lewis & Clark Community College.
