The Lake Forest College men's hockey team was defeated 4-2 at Adrian College, the second-ranked team in the nation, Friday night. Forester freshman forward Jack Lewis scored the first goal of the game and assisted on the last.
Lewis netted his 10th score of the season at the 10:12 mark of the opening period. He was assisted by fellow freshman forward Anthony Annunziato and junior defenseman Ben Certo.
Adrian, however, tied the score at the 13:48 mark and quickly took the lead just 47 seconds later. The Bulldogs had a 15-5 edge in shots on goal in the first period and still led 2-1 after 20 minutes of play.
The second period was scoreless, despite 14 shots on goal for the Foresters and a dozen for the home team.
Adrian scored what turned out to be the official game-winning goal at the 5:02 mark of the third period and added a short-handed insurance goal at 10:21.
Lake Forest sophomore defenseman Robert Weiner scored his first career goal with 3:35 remaining in the contest. Annunziato and Lewis assisted on the score.
Forester sophomore goaltender Leo Podolsky made 31 saves on the night but suffered his first loss in nearly three months. Lake Forest had won its previous nine games, matching the second-longest winning streak in program history. The Foresters also had a 10-game unbeaten streak that was the longest in the nation and ranks third in team annals.
Lake Forest fell to 14-9-1 overall this season and 11-6-0 in Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association play. They remain in third place in the league standings, one point ahead of College of St .Scholastica and Marian University. Adrian is now 19-1-4 overall and 13-1-3 in the conference, one point behind league leader St. Norbert College.
The Foresters and Bulldogs will face off again in the regular season finale Saturday afternoon at 3:00 (EST). Both teams will be at home in next weekend's NCHA quarterfinal series.
