The Lake Forest College women's hockey team outscored host Concordia University Wisconsin 4-1 Friday night. Forester senior goaltender Stacey Dierking stopped 32 of 33 shots on goal to earn the victory.
Dierking made 17 of her saves in the final period and improved to 6-2-2 with a 3.02 goals against average and .893 save percentage on the season.
The Foresters' first two goals of the night were scored by sophomore forward Michelle Greeneway, who leads the nation with 26 scores on the year. She is also just two shy of the school record set by Kim Herring in 2009-10. After a scoreless opening period, Greeneway gave the visitors the lead at the 3:56 mark of the second with fellow sophomore forward Melissa Paluch and sophomore defenseman Alex Stensland each credited with an assist. Greeneway also converted a power play opportunity with 3:57 to play in the period. Her ninth power play goal of the year was set up by sophomore forward Logan Taylor, whose team-high 19 assists on the year are tied for the fourth-highest single-season total in program history.
Concordia Wisconsin ended Dierking's bid for a shutout with a power play goal at 10:55 in the third period.
The Foresters regained their two-goal advantage just 15 seconds later on junior forward Morgan Pope's 16th goal of the year. She was assisted by sophomore forward Holly Lesperance. The final tally of the night went to junior forward Marissa Weber, who lit the lamp for the 13th time this season at 14:42.
Lake Forest was outshot 9-8 in the first period before putting 22 shots on goal to the Falcons' seven in the second. Concordia Wisconsin had 17 shots and the Foresters 12 in the final 20 minutes.
The victory raises the Foresters' overall record on the season to 14-5-3 and Northern Collegiate Hockey Association mark to 12-3-2. The Falcons fell to 8-15-1 overall and 6-10-1 in the league. The win also clinches a bye for Lake Forest in next weekend's NCHA Slaats Cup Quarterfinals. The Foresters are tied for the conference lead in points and can clinch at least a share of the regular season title with a victory Saturday afternoon at Marian University. The game will begin at 2:00 p.m. Lake Forest can claim the inaugural Kronschnabel Trophy outright with a win and a College of St. Scholastica loss or tie St. Norbert College Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
