Behind a goal by junior Michelle Greeneway with just 3.3 seconds on the third period clock, the Lake Forest College women's hockey team defeated Concordia University Wisconsin 2-1 in Saturday's Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Slaats Cup Championship Game. The victory also sends the Foresters to their second consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament.
The NCAA Tournament will begin next weekend at participating campus sites. The opponent and location of Lake Forest's first-round game will be announced during the NCAA Division III Selection Show Monday at 9:00 a.m. (link).
Greeneway's team-high 18th goal of the season was assisted by senior forward Morgan Pope and junior forward Melissa Paluch. All three players rank among the top six in program history in career points and Greeneway is now just one shy of Kim Herring's team record of 105 set in 2012.
Paluch also assisted on the Foresters' first goal, which tied the game at the 9:21 mark of the second period. The goal was scored by sophomore forward Allie Girard and senior forward Laura Reckdenwald also earned an assist on the play. Girard now has eight goals on the season and is one of seven players on the team with at least eight scores.
Concordia Wisconsin had finished the regular season with a 6-8-4 record in NCHA play, defeated College of St. Scholastica on the road in the quarterfinals of the tournament and knocked off league champion and tournament host Adrian College, the fourth-ranked team in the nation, in Friday's semifinal round. The Falcons took the lead against another higher-seeded opponent on Saturday at the 4:34 mark of the opening period but their third straight upset bid came up just short.
Both goaltenders in the contest turned in stellar performances. Forester junior Allie Carter turned away 20 of 21 shots on goal, including eight in both the first and third periods, and improved to 8-6-2 with a .915 save percentage and 2.06 goals against average on the year. Lake Forest put 46 shots on goal on the afternoon, including 35 in the first 40 minutes.
Carter was selected to the Slaats Cup All-Tournament team, where she was was joined by Greeneway, Paluch, and Forester junior defenseman Alex Stensland.
Lake Forest is now 14-8-3 overall this season. Concordia Wisconsin fell to 12-11-5.
