This Week in the Forest: Jan. 29-Feb. 4

The Forester hockey teams could clinch spots in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Playoffs this weekend.

The men's team will begin the weekend by hosting Adrian College, the top-ranked team in the nation, late Friday afternoon. Lake Forest played to a 1-1 tie with visiting Milwaukee School of Engineering before falling 5-2 at Concordia University Wisconsin last weekend and is now 11-9-1 overall and 8-5-1 in conference play this year. The Foresters will be looking to avenge a 5-2 loss earlier in the year at Adrian, which enters this weekend 17-4-0 overall and 13-1-0 in the NCHA. Lake Forest will also host Trine University (5-14-2, 1-11-2 NCHA) Saturday night in hopes of completing a season sweep of the Thunder. It will also be Alumni Night and the 2018 Peter Taylor Award winner will be announced at the first intermission. A victory or tie in either game, or a loss or tie for Aurora University this weekend, will clinch a spot for the Foresters in the NCHA Harris Cup Playoffs.

The Forester women's hockey team is coming off 4-1 and 5-0 victories over Marian University at home over the weekend. The team improved to 11-8-0 overall and 9-3-0 in the NCHA ahead of this weekend's series with visiting Northland College (7-11-1, 5-6-1 NCHA). The Friday night and Saturday afternoon games will be the first between the two programs this season. Lake Forest won both meetings last year, the first for Northland as a member of the league. The Foresters would qualify for the NCHA Slaats Cup Playoffs with a victory or tie in either contest or with a loss or tie this weekend for Finlandia University.

The Lake Forest basketball teams will also play twice at home this week, beginning with Tuesday evening contests against Beloit College. The Forester men defeated Knox College 76-60 at hoe on Saturday and are now 13-6 overall and 9-3 in the Midwest Conference this season. They defeated the Buccaneers (2-17, 1-11 MWC) 84-72 at Beloit in November and have won the last seven meetings between the two programs. Lake Forest will also host Ripon College (12-5, 9-3 MWC) on Saturday in hopes of earning a season split against the Red Hawks, who won 83-69 when the teams met in Ripon on January 6.

The Forester women's basketball team was edged out 86-85 in overtime by Knox on Saturday and are now 8-11 overall and 6-6 in the conference. They prevailed 70-47 in November at Beloit, which enters this week 3-15 overall and 1-10 in the MWC. The teams split the season series in 2016-17. Lake Forest will then take on league-leading Ripon College, which is 13-5 overall with victories in 10 of 11 conference contests, including a 63-46 win over the Foresters on January 6.

The Lake Forest swimming and diving teams will participate in their final dual meet of the season at Illinois Institute of Technology on Saturday. After falling to the University of Chicago on Saturday, the Forester men and women are 2-3 in dual meets this year while Illinois Tech's men are 8-3 and women 6-5. Lake Forest won 145-82 on the men's side while the women finished in a 110-110 tie when the teams met last season. While the team's swimmers are taking on the Scarlet Hawks, the Forester divers will be competing with several NCAA DIvision I athletes at the UIC Diving Invitational.

The Forester track team went up against teams from all three NCAA divisions as well as NAIA members at Grand Valley State University's Mike Lints Open last week. Senior Jonathan Stern turned in Lake Forest's best performance at the meet, a fifth-place finish in the 5000m run. He and his teammates will continue the program's first year of varsity track since 1973 at Ripon College's Red Hawk Invite this Saturday. Ripon will also be the site of the 2018 MWC Championship Meet February 23-24.

After hosting its annual Men's Invitational Singles handball event last weekend, Lake Forest will host the women's version this Saturday. Alumni and other players from the area will be on hand to challenge the Foresters throughout the day.

While many of the College's winter sports are looking for late-season success in February, one of the spring sports will start competition this week. The Forester men's tennis team will travel to Elmhurst College for its first dual match of the year on Friday before hosting Wisconsin Lutheran College at the Racquet Club of Lake Bluff on Saturday. Lake Forest blanked Wisconsin Lutheran 9-0 last year and fell 6-3 to Elmhurst when the teams last met in 2015.

Home events in Bold.
* Conference game 

All-Sports Calendar