Senior goaltender Leo Podolsky made 11 of his 21 saves in the second period as the Lake Forest College men's hockey team prevailed 4-1 at Aurora University Friday night.
Podolsky needed just five saves to keep the Spartans off the scoreboard in the opening period. The Foresters put 16 shots on goal in the game's first 20 minutes, including one off the stick of freshman forward Vito Aluia that gave the visitors the lead at the 7:25 mark. The power play goal was the fourth score of the season for Aluia, who was assisted by senior defenseman Robert Wiener and junior forward Justin Pelock. Pelock now has a five-game point streak and Wiener leads the squad with nine assists on the year.
The score remained 1-0 for nearly an entire period. Junior forward Jimmy Cusan eventually doubled the Lake Forest lead with his sixth goal of the season at 6:54 in the second. Senior forward Ian Pichel assisted on Cusan's goal and then scored one of his own at 15:02. Freshman forward Drew Cleereman set up Pichel's fifth goal of the year.
The only blemish on Podolsky's night was a power play goal by Aurora with 2:22 to play in the second period. He earned his 35th career victory, the most in recorded program history.
Sophomore forward Billy Kent's insurance goal at 15:43 in the final period all but clinched the Forester victory. His eighth score this season was assisted by junior forward Jack Lewis and freshman defenseman Quinton Wunder, who recorded his first career point on the play.
Lake Forest improved to 7-13-0 overall and 5-10-0 in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association play. Aurora fell to 1-18-1 overall and 1-13-1 in the league.
The only two NCAA programs in the state of Illinois will face off again in Lake Forest Saturday night at 7:00.
