Junior defenseman Mark Esshaki scored his second goal of the night with just 43.5 seconds remaining in overtime and the Lake Forest College men's hockey team defeated visiting College of St. Scholastica 4-3 Friday night.
The first period consisted of several scoring chances from both sides and, at 6:15, junior forward Jack Lewis broke the ice off of an excellent feed from freshman forward Bron Loiselle, who skated his way up the half wall and found Lewis in the slot for a one-timer. Sophomore defenseman Bryan McFarlane also assisted on the second goal of the season for Lewis.
The Saints tied the game in the second on a power play goal with 7:15 to play in the period.
The Foresters answered with a goal of their own just 24 seconds later to make the score 2-1. Freshman defenseman Dan Kuter made a spectacular cross-ice pass to sophomore forward Davis Dekorte, who then found senior forward Alec DeAngelo driving the middle lane. The puck went off of DeAngelo's stick into the back of the net for his first goal of the year.
The home team added to its lead 79 seconds into the third period. Esshaki blasted a shot from the top of the circles to convert a power play opportunity and put the Foresters ahead 3-1. Senior defenseman Robert Wiener assisted on the score, Esshaki's first of the season.
The Saints pulled back to within a goal with 15:46 left in the period and, after pulling their goaltender, tied the score with just 2.4 seconds left in regulation.
Both teams had scoring opportunities in overtime and it was the Foresters who struck for the win with just 43.5 seconds to play. Once again Esshaki was there to find the back of the net and he immediately celebrated with his teammates in front of their bench. Sophomore forward Charlie Izaguirre won a faceoff, sending the puck to Esshaki, who finished off his first career two-goal game.
Lake Forest senior goaltender Leo Podolsky stopped 41 of 44 shots on goal on the night, including two in overtime, to earn the victory and improve to 2-2-0 on the year.
The Foresters are now 2-3-0 overall and in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association play this season. St. Scholastica fell to 1-1-1 overall in the team's NCHA opener.
The same two teams will face off again Saturday afternoon at 3:00.
