This Week in the Forest: April 16-22

Thursday's conference doubleheader against St. Norbert College is the first of seven in 11 days for the Forester softball team.

Lake Forest split with Illinois Wesleyan University, the 16th-ranked team in the nation, last Wednesday but had a pair of doubleheaders postponed over the weekend. The team is 16-8 overall and 4-0 in Midwest Conference contests with seven league doubleheaders still to play. The first was scheduled to be played at St. Norbert College (6-12, 2-2 MWC) on Thursday but has been moved to Lake Forest due to heavy snowfall in northern Wisconsin. The Foresters and Green Knights split a pair of close games during the regular season in 2017 and St. Norbert won 4-3 when they met in the conference tournament to take a 36-24 led in the all-time series.

The softball team will also travel south for a doubleheader at Illinois College (11-7, 3-1 MWC) on Saturday and two more games at Monmouth College (13-9, 2-2 MWC) on Sunday. Lake Forest has won its last nine meetings with Illinois College and is 34-7 all-time against the Lady Blues. Monmouth swept their doubleheader last year but the Foresters lead the all-time series with te Fighting Scots 37-20.

The only other midweek contest still on the schedule for a Forester team is Wednesday night's non-conference men's tennis match at Wheaton College. Lake Forest split a pair of league matches in Iowa last weekend and is now 11-7 overall and 5-1 in the MWC this year. Wheaton is 5-9 but has taken the last five meetings between the two teams, including an 8-1 decision last season, and is 13-7 all-time against the Foresters.

The Lake Forest men's tennis team will close out the regular season on Saturday, taking on Lawrence University (11-7, 5-1 MWC) in the morning and St. Norbert College (8-8, 3-3 MWC) in the afternoon. The Foresters defeated both opponents each of the last four years and own a combined 34-22 all-time record against them. A victory in either match will secure a spot for Lake Forest in the four-team MWC Championship Tournament.

After having a pair of events, including the Forester Spring Invitational, postponed or cancelled over the weekend and another originally scheduled for this Tuesday moved back a week, the Forester golf team will be back out on the course at Millikin University's Take Back the Night Challenge this Saturday and Sunday. Lake Forest's last competition was the highly-competitive Illinois Wesleyan Invitational on April 7, where they matched their season average with a score of 311 in the cold and windy conditions. 

The Lake Forest track team's schedule also continues to be affected by the weather. After day two of last weekend's Benedictine Relays was cancelled, St. Norbert College was forced to do the same to its meet slotted for this Saturday. The Foresters will instead compete in Wheaton College's Don Church Twilight Meet on Saturday as they continue their first season as a varsity sport since 1973.

After having a pair of matches cancelled last Sunday, the Forester women's tennis team has not competed since posting 7-2 victories over Marian University and North Park University on April 7. Lake Forest is now 20-2 on the year and will host Concordia University Wisconsin (16-3) Sunday morning and Carthage College (13-5) in the afternoon. The Foresters are 8-24 all-time against Carthage and 20-6-3 against Concordia Wisconsin.

Home events in Bold.
* Conference game 

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