Senior goaltender Louis-Philippe De Courcy made 29 saves in the Forester men's hockey team's 2-1 triumph over non-conference opponent Saint Mary's University Friday night.
The first 20 minutes were pretty even with no score and each team having one power play. The Foresters held the edge in shots 10-8.
In the middle frame the Cardinals were called for too many men on the ice just 1:15 in the period and the Foresters were able to capitalize. Sophomore forward Aaron O'Neill fired a wrist shot from the right circle off a feed from senior forward Cody Guidorzi, giving Lake Forest a 1-0 lead. It was O'Neill's team-high third goal of the season.
As a penalty to Lake Forest was about to expire the Cardinals were able to convert and notch the score at one with 14 minutes to go in period number two.
The game-winner came at the 15:12 mark when Lake Forest had a two-on-one rush, thanks to excellent board play from sophomore forward Joey Sardina. "I saw Joey chip it past their defenseman," said freshman forward Cullen Kane, who ended up scoring the goal. "Troy Nelson picked it up and recognized we had a two-on-one. He made a great pass and all I had to do was put it in." It was Kane's second score of the season and proved to be the difference maker.
After the game O'Neill said, "It was great to build on the Lawrence victory. It was about time we got a win for LP, who has played well all year. We can enjoy this a little tonight but we need to come ready to work again tomorrow."
Saint Mary's outshot Lake Forest 30-25 and both teams were 1-for-6 on the power play.
Lake Forest improved to 2-3-2 overall while Saint Mary's fell to 0-8-1. The same two teams will battle it out again Saturday afternoon at 4:00.
by Cam McGuire
