The Forester men's hockey team was defeated 3-2 by visiting Marian University Friday night in the opener of the teams' Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Harris Cup quarterfinal series. Senior forward Chris Gard and junior forward Jason McAloon each scored third period goals to pull Lake Forest to within a goal but the home team was unable to complete the comeback.
Marian scored once in each of the first two periods and led 2-0 after 40 minutes of play, despite being outshot 27-16 at that point in the game. The Foresters put 19 more shots on goal to the Sabres' five in the final period.
Gard got the home team on the scoreboard at the 6:31 mark of the third period. His first goal of the season was assisted by junior defenseman Charlie Stein.
After the Sabres regained their two-goal advantage at 11:58, the Foresters closed to within a score once again on McAloon's goal at 16:27. Junior defenseman Andrew Stein set up McAloon's eighth goal this year.
The Foresters pulled their goalie with 1:15 to play in the contest and went on the power play with 59 seconds left but were unable to tie the score.
Lake Forest fell to 14-11-1 on the season while Marian evened its record at 12-12-2. The same two teams will face off again Saturday night at 7:00. If the Foresters win, a 20-minute minigame will follow with the winner advancing to next weekend's Harris Cup semifinals.