The Forester men's soccer team hosted and defeated Ripon College 3-1 on Saturday. Lake Forest junior Mahir Mameledzija recorded his second hat trick of the season and already has 15 goals this year.
Mameledzija netted his first goal of the contest at 29:46. The score was set up by perfectly placed passes from fellow juniors Steven Johnson and Alexi Spiratos, who lead the team with 6 and 4 assists on the season, respectively.
Just 42 seconds passes before the Foresters' leading scorer struck again, this time off a pass from freshman Dylan Hartman.
Lake Forest led 2-0 at halftime but the lead was cut in half less than five minutes into the second period.
Johnson passed the ball to Mameledzija, who quickly spun and kicked the ball past the Ripon goalie for the third time on the day with 15 minutes remaining in the contest.
Lake Forest senior goalkeeper Ethan Guenther made five saves in the game and raised his record on the year to 5-1-1.
Mameledzija has already matched the 32 points he recorded during each of his first two seasons and his 15 goals are the fifth-highest single-season total in program history. He climbed one spot into fourth place in program history with 96 career points. Only Forester Athletic Hall of Famers Tony Mulert with 101 points, Rob Samuels with 108, and Bryan Porto with 142, are ahead of him on the all-time list.
The Foresters are now 7-2-1 overall and 4-1-0 in Midwest Conference play. Ripon fell to 3-5-1 overall and 1-2-1 in the league.
Lake Forest will host Concordia University Chicago Monday afternoon at 4:30.
