Foresters Edged Out at Adrian to Open Harris Cup Quarterfinal Series

Photo by Yanna Glaspy
Photo by Yanna Glaspy

The Lake Forest College men's hockey team held the top-ranked team in the nation scoreless for the first two periods before falling 2-1 at Adrian College Friday night.

Forester junior goaltender Nick Wiencek stopped all 10 shots on goal he faced in the opening period and 13 in the second. He finished the night with 31 saves.

The Bulldogs pulled their goalie during a delayed penalty and finally broke the scoreless tie at the 5:36 mark of the third period. The home team also converted the ensuing power play opportunity just 40 seconds later.

Lake Forest Head Coach Sean O'Malley called his timeout after the second score and the Foresters closed back to within a goal just 20 seconds later. Freshman defenseman Connor Sullivan took a cross-ice pass from sophomore forward Ben Perkins and fired a shot past the goalie from the top of the right circle. Senior forward Josh Giacomin also assisted on Sullivan's third tally this season.

Wiencek exited the ice in favor of an extra attacker for the game's final 67 seconds but the Foresters were unable to complete the comeback.

Lake Forest is now 7-17-2 and Adrian 25-1-0 on the year. The same two teams will face off in game two of their Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Harris Cup quarterfinal series Saturday afternoon at 4:00 (ET).