Junior goaltender Billy Cooper made 24 saves and assisted on the game-winning goal as the Lake Forest College men's hockey team skated past visiting Finlandia University 6-2 Friday night.
Cooper stopped five of the Lions' six shots on goal in the opening period, all 10 he faced in the second, and nine of 10 in the third. He improved to 2-2-0 on the season. Cooper was also credited with his first career assist when junior defenseman Travis Hill netted his first career goal at the 9:58 mark of the second period. The power play score gave the home team a 3-1 lead and turned out to be the official game-winning goal.
The Foresters put 21 shots on goal in the first period and took the lead at the 2:25 mark when sophomore forward Charlie Izaguirre scored his second goal of the year. Izaguirre, who returned to the lineup after missing the team's last eight games due to injury, was assisted by freshman defenseman Ryan Kruss, who earned his first career point on the play. junior forward Jack Lewis doubled the Lake Forest lead at 11:43 with junior forward Justin Pelock assisting. Finlandia got on the scoreboard at 13:28 and the score remained 2-1 for the rest of the period.
Hill's score was the first of three for the home team in the second period. Freshman forward Vito Aluia converted a power play opportunity at 10:57 to make the score 4-1. Lewis and junior forward Jimmy Cusan assisted on Aluia's fifth goal of the year. Freshman forward Cody Guidorzi took a pass from sophomore forward Billy Kent and beat the Finlandia goalie at 16:10 to give the Foresters a four-goal cushion. It was the second score of the season for Guidorzi.
Lake Forest out-shot the visitors 18-10 in the final period and 52-26 in the game. Finlandia scored at the 2:25 mark but was held scoreless the rest of the way. Lewis closed out the scoring at 16:13 and his team-high 11th goal of the season was set up by Pelock and Kent. Lewis leads the 2015-16 Foresters with 17 points, one more than Kent.
The victory raised Lake Forest's overall record on the season to 8-14-0 and Northern Collegiate Hockey Association mark to 6-11-0. Finlandia fell to 1-20-3 overall and 1-16-2 in the league. The same two teams will face off again in Alumni Memorial Field House Saturday afternoon at 4:00.
