Lake Forest College men's hockey player Billy Cooper was named Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday for his performance in a home-and-home series sweep of Lawrence University last weekend.
Cooper, a senior goaltender, tallied a season-high 38 saves in the Foresters' 3-2 come-from-behind overtime victory Friday night in Appleton, Wisconsin. He held the Vikings scoreless after the midway point of the second period, making 18 saves in the second and 13 in the third. He stopped the home team's only shot on goal in overtime and Lake Forest netted the game-winner with less than a second on the clock.
The Foresters closed out the regular season with a 6-1 victory over Lawrence at home Saturday night and Cooper stopped 19 of 20 shots on goal in the contest. The only goal he allowed came on the power play in the second period and trimmed the home team's lead to 4-1.
Cooper posted a .950 save percentage and 1.44 goals against average on the weekend and improved to 7-3-0 with a 2.35 goals against average and .919 save percentage this year.
The victories allowed Lake Forest to clinch a spot in the 2017 NCHA Harris Cup Playoffs and the Foresters will play in the quarterfinals Wednesday night at 7:00 at Marian University.
NCHA Players of the Week are selected by the league's directors of public relation and sports information. Cooper received the same award from the league on November 1.
