Junior Gaston Aubert gave the Foresters the lead just 11 seconds into the contest but the Forester men's soccer team eventually fell 6-2 at the University of Chicago Saturday evening in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Aubert blasted a shot just barely past a diving Chicago goalkeeper, off the left post, and into the goal with 44:49 yet to play in the first half. It was the seventh goal of the season for Aubert, who also scored first in both of the Foresters' Midwest Conference Tournament victories last weekend.
The Maroons entered the contest having allowed more than one goal in a game just once all season but Lake Forest made it twice less than 20 minutes into Saturday's contest. A long free kick was headed by Aubert into the middle of the box, where senior John Cappuccitti got a foot on the ball and sent it past the keeper to make the score 2-0 at the 19:52 mark. It was the fourth goal of the season for Cappuccitti, who finished his three-year Forester career with 61 points on 24 goals and 13 assists. Aubert's assist on the play tied him with senior Elyas Ingram for the team lead with 19 points this season.
Chicago began its comeback with an own goal less than 40 seconds later and then kept it a one-goal game by saving a penaly shot. The Maroons out-shot the Foresters 13-7 in the opening half but still trailed 2-1 at its completion.
The home team attempted 19 shots in the final 45 minutes and found the back of the net on five of them. The Maroons tied the score just 100 seconds into the period and took the lead at 6:42. They tacked on a pair of insurance goals in the next 10 minutes and added a final score with 49 seconds to play in the contest.
The Foresters, who made their third trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last five years, finished the season 12-7-1 while Chicago improved to 17-2-0 going into Sunday night's second round game against Capital University.
In addition to Cappuccitti and Ingram, Lake Forest will also lose fellow seniors Josh Geiger, Leo Lehto, Osvaldo Lara Soria, Nipun Chauhan, Finnian Bunta, Seton Trostle, and Alejandro Rubalcaba Serrano to graduation in May.