Senior forward Ian Pichel became the first Forester in nearly 26 years to score four goals in a game as the Lake Forest College men's hockey team defeated Finlandia University 7-1 at home on Saturday.
Pichel recorded his first career hat trick in the first period of the contest, scoring at 4:02, 9:24, and 14:46. Freshman forward Drew Cleereman assisted on the first score, sophomore forward Charlie Izaguirre and freshman forward Born Loiselle set up the second, and freshman defensemen Ryan Kruss and junior defenseman Travis Hill were credited with the assists on the third, which was a power play goal. Lake Forest out-shot the Lions 16-9 in the opening period and led 3-0 at the first intermission.
The teams combined for 27 shots on goal in the second stanza, including 16 by the home team, but an unassisted score by Loiselle at 15:46 was the period's only tally. It was his third goal of the season.
Freshman forward John Nugent added to the Foresters' lead two minutes and 36 seconds into the third period. Freshman defenseman Ted Lauer earned his first career point by assisting on Nugent's second goal of the year.
After Finlandia finally got on the scoreboard exactly halfway through the final period, Pichel finished off his four-goal performance with an unassisted score at the 12:17 mark. He now has nine goals on the season, as does sophomore forward Billy Kent after his shorthanded score at 15:37. It was the team's first shorthanded goal of the year.
The Foresters had an 11-7 edge in shots in goal in the final 20 minutes and a 43-27 advantage for the game.
Lake Forest senior goaltender Leo Podolsky made 26 saves to earn the victory. He improved his team record goals against average for a career to 2.74.
The Foresters are now 9-14-0 overall this season and 7-11-0 in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association play. Finlandia fell to 1-21-3 overall and 1-17-2 in the league.
Three teams from each of the league's division qualify for the NCHA Harris Cup Playoffs and Lake Forest is now tied with Concordia University Wisconsin for third place in the South Division. Concordia Wisconsin will close out the regular season with two games at Northland College next weekend while the Foresters will play a home-and-home series with Lawrence University. The Lake Forest seniors will play their final career home game Friday night at 7:00 and the teams will face off again in Appleton, Wisconsin, at the same time on Saturday.