The Forester men's soccer team dropped a 3-2 decision to St. Norbert College at home on Sunday in a game that would decide the 2015 Midwest Conference championship. Junior midfielder Ellis Rutili scored both of Lake Forest's goals in the contest.
Rutili started the scoring just three minutes and 28 seconds into the contest. His left-footed corner kick from the right side sailed over the goalie and a defender's attempt to clear it caromed into the goal.
St. Norbert, however, tied the game at the 36:18 mark and the score was still 1-1 at halftime, despite Lake Forest's 9-6 advantage in shots in the period.
The Foresters regained the lead on Rutili's second score of the game and seventh this season. The Green Knight goaltender stopped a free kick from Lake Forest senior defender John Palutsis but was unable to control the ball, which Rutili settled 21 yards out from the goal and popped over the goalie and into the net at 52:03.
The home team was unable to hold the lead again, however, and the Knights knotted the score again with a goal at 66:19. A Forester handball in the box gave the visitors a penalty kick at 74:02 and they converted for what turned out to be the game-winner.
Lake Forest outshot St. Norbert 14-2 in the second half and 23-8 in the contest.
The loss dropped the Foresters' overall record to 12-6-0 and their MWC mark to 7-3-0. St. Norbert improved to 11-5-2 overall and claimed the league title with a 8-1-1 mark in conference play.
The same two teams will face each other again in De Pere, Wisconsin, in the semifinals of next weekend's MWC Tournament. The contest will begin at 11:00 a.m. with the winner advancing to the final at noon on Saturday. The MWC Tournament champion will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
