Lake Forest Sweeps St. Scholastica, Finishes Fall 6-3-2

Photo by Scott Sanford
Photo by Scott Sanford

The Forester men's hockey team finished off a weekend sweep on the College of St. Scholastica, the 12th-ranked team in the nation, with a 3-1 triumph on Saturday. Lake Forest senior forward scored the home team's first two goals of the game.

Swardenski's unassisted power play score at the 13:42 mark of the second period tied the game at one. His second power play goal of the day and team-high eighth score this season put the home team on top at the 3:25 mark of the third period. What proved to be his first game-winning goal of the year was assisted by sophomore forward Jack Lewis, who leads the Foresters with nine helpers and 12 points overall.

The Saints pulled their goaltender with a minute-and-a-half remaining. Senior forward Jason McAloon, who scored the only goal in the team's 1-0 victory the night before, found the open net with 24 seconds remaining to help secure another win on Saturday.

Less than 24 hours after stopping all 36 shots he faced in a 1-0 shutout, Forester junior goaltender Leo Podolsky turned away 25 of 26 shots on goal on Saturday. Freshman Lyndon Stanwood also recorded the first three saves of his career while filling in for Podolsky, who was serving a penalty during the second period. Podolsky improved to 6-2-2 with a .950 save percentage and 1.63 goals against average on the season.

Lake Forest out-shot the Saints 12-7 in the opening period and 12-9 in the third. Both teams put 13 shots on goal in the second.

The Foresters are now 6-3-2 overall and climbed into third place in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association standings with a league mark of 5-2-1. St. Scholastica fell to 6-3-0 overall and 5-3-0 in the NCHA.

It was the final game of the fall semester for Lake Forest. The team will travel to the University of Massachusetts Boston for the Codfish Bowl in early January. The Foresters' semifinal opponent will be Hamilton College and the teams will face off at 4:00 (ET) on Sunday, January 4. The tournament's consolation game (1:00 ET) and championship (4:00 ET) will be played on Monday, January 5.