Junior Gaston Aubert gave his team the early lead as the Lake Forest College men's soccer team prevailed 2-1 over St. Norbert College on Friday in the semifinals of the Midwest Conference Tournament.
Aubert scored his fifth goal of the season just six minutes and three seconds into the game. Senior John Cappuccitti assisted on the play.
The Foresters doubled their lead at the 17:54 mark when sophomore Lucas Geib scored for the seventh time this year. The goal was set up by senior Elyas Ingram, who earned his team-high seventh assist of the season and the 28th of his career.
St. Norbert closed back to within a goal at the 27:01 mark. The Green Knights had a 10-6 advantage in shots in the first half but Lake Forest led 2-1 after 45 minutes of play.
St. Norbert attempted 11 shots to the Foresters' three in the second half but neither team was able to score.
Lake Forest junior goalkeeper Tero Elias made a pair of saves in the opening period and is now 8-2-1 this season. Freshman Jan Roessler stopped all three of the Green Knights' shots on goal in the second half to preserve the victory.
The Foresters, the #3 seed at the event, is now 11-6-1 on the year while second-seeded St. Norbert finished the season 14-4-2. Top seed and tournament host Knox College was upset 3-2 in overtime by Grinnell College in the other semifinal, setting up a match-up between Lake Forest and Grinnell in tomorrow's MWC Tournament final at 2:00 p.m. The winner will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
It will be the fourth MWC Tournament Final appearance in the last six seasons for the Foresters, who won the event in 2013 and 2015. Lake Forest also qualified for the NCAA Tournament after winning the 1975 and 1980 conference tournaments and three times while competing as an independent in the 1960s.