No. 16 Warriors Advance Past McKendree in MCH Opener

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – No. 16-ranked Midland University faced off against McKendree University in the opening round of the Midwest College Hockey (MCH) Tournament on Friday. Fueled by a balanced offensive attack, the Warriors skated past the Bearcats into the semifinals with a 6-2 victory.

Midland struck first on a power-play goal by Lasse Richert at 4:44 of the opening period, assisted by Leo Milan and Karl Grafelman. Logan Wotton doubled the lead at 7:53 with an even-strength goal set up by Milan Breczko.

The Warriors continued their dominance early in the second period as Breczko found the net at 1:56, with Wotton and Hugo Lukacovic assisting. Richert tallied his second power-play goal of the night at 3:20, assisted by Thomas Babb and Ethan Brown, extending the lead to 4-0. Lukacovic added to the scoring at 11:37 with an assist from Cody Shearer and Breczko.

McKendree responded with a goal at 15:58 of the second period, cutting the deficit to 5-1. The Bearcats added a late power-play goal at 16:52 of the third, but Midland sealed the win with an empty-net goal from Babb at 17:21, with Richert and Milan assisting.

Liam Tereposky stood tall in net for Midland, making 34 saves on 36 shots, while McKendree's netminder stopped 27 of 32 shots in the loss. The Warriors converted 2-of-3 power-play opportunities, while the Bearcats went 1-for-7.

Midland (18-17-1) advances to the MCH semifinals, where they will face No. 5-ranked Jamestown (22-8-0). Puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. inside the Bloomington Ice Center.