Behind 23 saves by junior goaltender Leo Podolsky, the Lake Forest College men's hockey team defeated Milwaukee School of Engineering 2-0 at home Saturday night. With a week left in the regular season, the Foresters remain in second place in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association standings.
Podolsky stopped seven shots on goal in the opening period, eight in the second, and eight again in the third. He improved to 14-3-3 on the season with the second-highest save percentage (.951) and seventh-best goals against average (1.61) in the country.
Senior Jordan Bruce, a forward playing defense on this night, scored the game's first goal at the 5:56 mark of the first period. His second score of the season was assisted by senior forward Charlie Stein, who received the program's annual Peter Taylor Award in a short ceremony between the first and second periods.
The home team finally added an insurance goal at 13:35 in the third. It was the ninth score of the year for sophomore forward Jack Lewis. Junior forward Alec DeAngelo and senior forward Bobby Barrett assisted on the play.
Lake Forest had an 11-7 edge in shots on goal in the game's first 20 minutes and a 10-8 advantage in both the second and third periods.
The Foresters, who entered the weekend ranked 12th in the nation, improved to 14-4-5 overall and 12-3-1 in NCHA play. Milwaukee School of Engineering fell to 14-9-0 overall and 9-7-0 in the league.
Adrian College has a one-game lead on the Foresters in the conference standings and the two teams will face off in Lake Forest next weekend. Friday night's game will begin at 7:00 and the teams will face off again Saturday afternoon at 3:00. The Foresters would need a pair of victories to claim the program's first conference championship since 1987.
