The Lake Forest College men's soccer team was making its fourth NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in the last 10 years but fell 8-1 to St. Olaf College in Saturday night's opening round.
"We knew this was going to be tough," began Forester Head Coach Dan Andrews. "We were down a few key guys and St. Olaf is extremely talented, both athletically and technically. I give them credit for playing as well as they did tonight and I wish them the best of luck as they move on in the tournament."
The Oles jumped out to the early lead just 1:41 into the contest and were ahead 5-0 at halftime.
Lake Forest's only score came in the 55th minute on an indirect kick just inside the penalty box. Senior defender Teddy Kolesnikov tapped the ball over to just forward Elliot Hull, who fired a shot through traffic and into the back of the net. It was Hull's fourth goal of the season.
St. Olaf had a 17-8 advantage in shots and put all but two of those attempts on target.
The loss was the Foresters' first since in a month and ended a five-game unbeaten streak.
"I'm really proud of the run these guys made and for getting to this point," commented Andrews. "Unfortunately we just ran into a better team tonight."
Lake Forest captured the 18th Midwest Conference title in program history this fall and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament by posting a pair of dramatic victories during last weekend's MWC Tournament. The appearance in the NCAA Tournament was the ninth in team annals.