The Forester men's soccer team blanked visiting Knox College 3-0 on Saturday. Lake Forest junior Mahir Mameledzija scored twice in the contest and his 22 goals this season are a new program record.
After a scoreless first half, Mameledzija netted the game's first goal at the 55:43 mark. Freshman Dylan Hartman quickly played the ball to Mameledzija after a Knox foul and he cleared the Prairie Fire goalie from 35 yards out. It was the 10th official game-winning goal of the year for Mameledzija.
The Foresters' second score was set up by a well-placed cross by freshman Jeremiah Erzen and Mameledzija headed it past the Knox goalkeeper for his record-setting goal at 63:34. The previous mark of 21 goals was set by Bryan Porto in 1969. Mameledzija is still one shy of Porto's record of 48 points (also from 1969). He also passed Rob Samuels (1992-96) for second place in team history with 111 career points.
Another Lake Forest header found the back of the net less than 10 minutes later. Freshman Sakhile Nkambule sent a corner kick across from the right side and classmate Brett Grijalva jumped high and headed it in for the score. It was the first career goal for Grijalva.
Lake Forest senior goalkeeper Giancarlo Colasanti earned the shutout in his first appearance since the season opener.
The Foresters are now 11-2-1 overall and 7-1-0 in Midwest Conference play. The victory assured the team that it would be one of four teams in the MWC Tournament November 2-3. Knox fell to 5-6-2 overall and 1-3-2 in the league.
Lake Forest will travel to Carthage College Tuesday night for a 7:30 p.m. contest.