Freshman goaltender Boyd DiClemente earned his first career victory in the Foresters' 4-1 triumph over visiting Finlandia University on Saturday.
DiClemente after the victory said, "It feels good to get the first win out of the way personally. Overall it was a great team effort to get the two points. Our power play was great today and the defense in front of me did a nice job limiting their scoring chances."
Lake Forest finished the night 3-for-7 on the power play with two of those scores coming in the first period. Sophomore forward Austin Aksoy broke the ice at 6:19 when he sniped one over the goaltenders' shoulder. Senior forward George Geraimou was on the goal line and fed Aksoy the puck in the high slot. Senior forward Billy Kent also picked up an assist on the goal. Aksoy now has two tallies in his last three games. When asked about the goal and his ability to find the net as of late he stated, "I got a good pass from George in the slot and had some time to get a shot off from in close. Overall just getting to the scoring areas has been key and has lead to more chances to put the puck in the back of the net."
Sophomore defenseman Connor Duncan flung a wrister from the top of the point that was tipped in by junior forward Cody Guidorzi at 14:20 of the first period to extend the Forester lead to 2-0. It was Guidorzi's fifth goal of the year. Duncan and junior forward Bron Loiselle were credited with assists on the score.
The Lions cut the lead in half on a power play goal of their own at 2:38, making the score 2-1. The Foresters answered with a beautiful passing play on the power play. On the far side point junior defenseman Ryan Kruss sent a pass cross zone to the top of the circle, where junior forward Bron Loiselle found a streaking freshman forward Aaron O'Neill, who finished the play off. It was O'Neill's fourth of the season and first since November 25.
The home team headed into the second intermission with a 3-1 lead and a 32-16 advantage in shots.
The Foresters outshot the Lions 7-6 in the final 20 minutes and got the lone goal in the period.
Gerasimou sealed the deal as he tucked one into an empty net at the 18:25 mark. He now now has four goals and 11 assists for 15 points in as many games played this year. After the game Gerasimou said, "It's always nice to get a win, especially breaking out of a losing streak. There is a lot more we need to work on but this is definitely a game we will build on moving forward."
The Foresters improved their overall record to 8-7-0 and Northern Collegiate Hockey Association mark to 5-3-0. Finlandia fell to 0-13-1 overall and 0-6-1 in NCHA play. Lake Forest will be on the road next weekend at Adrian College Friday night at 7:05 (ET) and Trine University Saturday at 4:00 p.m. (ET).
by Cam McGuire