Freshman forward Aaron O'Neill scored to give the visitors a two-goal lead but the Forester men's hockey team finished the regular season with a 3-3 tie at Aurora University Friday night.
Junior forwards Cody Guidorzi and Bron Loiselle assisted freshman forward Joe Sardina on the game's first goal at 6:05 in the opening period. The power play score was the team-high ninth tally of the season for Sardina.
The visitors then doubled their lead at the 12:01 mark on the eighth goal of the year for O'Neill.
Aurora got on the board less than a minute later and then tied the score on a power play goal at the 15:13 mark.
Lake Forest converted another power play opportunity at 16:25 in the second period to regain the lead. It was the ninth score of the season for senior forward Charlie Izaguirre, who tied Sardina for the team lead in that category, and the seventh power play score in the last three games for the Foresters.
The Spartans pulled even again two minutes later with what turned out to be the final goal of the contest.
The Foresters doubled up the home team in terms of shots on goal in regulation, putting 40 on target to Aurora's 20. The Spartans then had four shot attempts to Lake Forest's two in the five-minute overtime period.
Forester freshman goaltender Boyd DiClemente finished with 21 saves on the night and is now 1-1-1 on the year.
The tie left Lake Forest with a 13-10-2 overall record and the team completed the regular season at 10-6-2 in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association play. Aurora finished the year 5-15-5 overall and 4-12-2 in the league.
The Foresters had already clinched the NCHA South Division's #3 seed in the Harris Cup Playoffs and they will travel to Concordia University Wisconsin for next weekend's quarterfinal series. The teams will face off Friday night at 8:00 and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. A 20-minute minigame will follow Saturday's contest if the teams split the first two match-ups.
