The Forester men's soccer team defeated visiting Illinois College 2-0 on Sunday to remain tied atop the Midwest Conference standings with an 8-1-0 league record. Senior goalkeeper Ethan Guenther made a pair of saves in Lake Forest's ninth shutout this season.
Both of Guenther's saves were made during the second half with the home team nursing a 1-0 lead. Guenther raised his record on the year to 6-3-0 and his save percentage to .850 while improving his goals against average to 0.75.
The game was scoreless until junior sweeper Kyle Kraus received a pass on the Forester half of the field, carried the ball up along the right sideline, worked a quick give-and-go, dribbled into the box, and made a perfect pass to senior Mahir Mameledzija. Mameledzija kicked it past the Blueboy goalkeeper at 43:57 for his team-high 16th goal and sixth game-winner this season. It was the third assist of the year for Kraus.
Lake Forest out-shot the visitors 9-2 in the first 45 minutes and 9-4 in the second half.
The Foresters all but clinched the victory on the first goal of the season by senior Alexi Spiratos, whose 25-yard free kick from the left side snuck through traffic in front of the net and past the goalie with six-and-a-half minutes remaining in the contest.
Lake Forest is now 11-6-0 overall this season. Illinois College fell to 9-6-2 overall and 4-4-1 in the league.
The Foresters will close out the regular season at home next Saturday against Lawrence University. The game will begin at 1:30 p.m. and a Lake Forest victory would clinch the team's second straight MWC title and the right to host the 2013 MWC Tournament November 8-9.