The Lake Forest College men's hockey team defeated visiting Lawrence University 6-3 Saturday night to extend the longest current unbeaten streak in the nation to a school record 15 games. Forester senior forward Bobby Barrett scored a pair of goals and assisted on another.
Barrett's second score of the game and 10th this season gave the Foresters the lead for good at the 15:41 mark of the second period. He and sophomore defenseman Travis Hill then assisted on the official game-winning goal scored by sophomore forward Jack Lewis just 26 seconds later. It was the eighth score of the season for Lewis.
Both teams had scored twice in the opening period, beginning with Lawrence just 50 seconds into the contest. Barrett's first score of the night tied the game at the 3:00 mark with Hill and senior forward Luke Swardenski assisting on the play. Lake Forest then took the lead on the first of two goals in the game by sophomore forward Jimmy Cusan at 17:46. Cusan was assisted by freshman forward Shawn Nelson. The Vikings, however, made it a 2-2 game after scoring with just 37 seconds remaining in the period.
Cusan extended the Foresters' lead to 5-2 at the 11:25 mark of the third period. His four goal of the year was assisted by junior forwards Alec DeAngelo and Ian Pichel. A Lawrence goal at 19:27 made things a little interesting late in the game but Swardenski found an open net in the final second to close out the scoring. DeAngelo earned his second assist of the night and Hill his third on Swardenski's team-high 12th goal of the year.
Lake Forest junior goaltender Leo Podolsky made 23 saves in the contest, including 10 in the second period, to raise his record on the season to 13-2-3. His .806 winning percentage ranks 11th in the country.
The Foresters, who entered the weekend ranked 15th in the nation, are now 13-3-5 overall and in second place in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association with a 11-2-1 league record. The Vikings fell to 6-14-1 overall and 5-9-0 in the conference. The team is 11-0-4 since late November and its 15-game unbeaten streak is one better than Lake Forest's season-opening streak in 1977-78. The next-longest actice streak in the nation is four games.
The Foresters will take on Milwaukee School of Engineering twice next weekend. The teams will face off at 7:05 Friday night in Milwaukee and again Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in Lake Forest's Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.
