The Lake Forest College men's soccer team prevailed 4-1 at Monmouth College on Saturday. Forester junior Mahir Mameledzija recorded his third hat trick of the season in the victory.
Mameledzija started the scoring at the 13:15 mark when he headed in a cross. Fellow juniors Alexi Spiratos and Jordan Hartman assisted on the goal.
Hartman then scored for the third time this season at 16:52 with sophomore Kyle Kraus picking up the assist.
After Monmouth got on the scoreboard at 19:49, the Foresters regained their two-goal advantage on Mameledzija's second score of the contest at 23:13. Kraus earned his second assist of the game as well.
Mameledzija finished off his third hat trick of the year at 35:22. The final goal for either team in the contest was the 25th of the season for Mameledzija, who entered the week as the nation's leader in goals and points.
Lake Forest outshot the Fighting Scots 15-4 in the opening period and 3-1 in a scoreless second half.
Forester senior goalkeeper Ethan Guenther had three saves in the game and raised his record on the year to 9-1-1.
The Foresters are now 12-3-1 overall this season and 8-1-0 in Midwest Conference play. Monmouth fell to 3-11-1 overall and 3-4-1 in the league.
Lake Forest can claim the 15th conference championship in program history with a victory at Illinois College tomorrow. The game will begin at 1:30 p.m.