Lake Forest College men's hockey team was defeated 4-3 by visiting University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the third-ranked team in the nation, Saturday night. Freshman forward Zach Mudge gave the home team the early lead but the Foresters were unable to stop the Pointers' comeback.
Mudge's score at the 14:17 mark of the opening period was his second of the season. Fellow freshman forward Anthony Annunziato and junior defenseman Charlie Stein assisted on the only goal of the period.
The home team doubled its lead on senior forward Mike Violette's fourth score of the year three minutes and 33 seconds into the second period. He was assisted by junior forwards Luke Swardenski and Bobby Barrett.
After Stevens Point finally got on the scoreboard at 7:44 in the second, the Foresters regained their two-goal advantage on the first career goal by freshman defenseman Mark Esshaki at 13:58. Assists on the play were credited to senior forward Chris Gard and junior forward Jordan Bruce.
The Pointers seized momentum with a score at 17:19 and then tied the game just 61 seconds later.
The visitors netted the game-winning goal at the 7:21 mark of the third period and held on for the victory.
Lake Forest sophomore goaltender Austin Severson made a career-high 41 saves on the night and exited the ice in favor of an extra attacker with 71 seconds to play. The Foresters, however, were unable to tie the score and fell to 5-7-0 on the season. Stevens Point raised its record to 11-1-0.
Lake Forest will resume Northern Collegiate Hockey Association play at home Tuesday night against Concordia University Wisconsin. The game will begin at 7:00 p.m.
