Freshman defenseman Julia Unterseher assisted on both of the visitors' goals as the Lake Forest College women's hockey team prevailed 2-1 at St. Norbert College Friday night. The victory extended the Foresters' current unbeaten streak to a program record 13 games.
Unterseher and senior forward Isabel Regine set up junior forward Melissa Bodine with the Foresters' first score at 13:24 in the second period. Bodine's first goal of the season tied the game at one.
Passes from Unterseher and Fanning got the puck to sophomore forward Amy Budde six minutes into the third period. Budde was able to sidestep a defender near the blue line, skate into the offensive zone, and blast the puck past the glove of the Green Knight goaltender for what proved to be the game-winning score. She leads Lake Forest with 14 goals this season
St. Norbert had taken the early lead on a power play goal at the 11:39 mark of the opening period. The home team had a slight 7-6 edge in shots on goal in the game's first 20 minutes and both teams put seven shots on target in the second. The Knights outshot the visitors 14-5 in the final period but Forester freshman goaltender Jacque Rogers stopped all 14 to earn the victory and improve to 10-1-0 on the year. Rogers now ranks third in the nation in winning percentage, fifth with a 1.09 goals against average, and 18th with a .942 save percentage.
Lake Forest has won its last four games after a tie with the College of St. Scholastica on January 14 snapped an eight-game winning streak. The current unbeaten streak is a game longer than the one posted by the 2012-13 team, which recorded 12 consecutive victories. The Foresters had a pair of 11-game unbeaten streaks last season.
Friday night's triumph improved the Foresters' overall record on the season to 17-2-1 and lifted the sixth-ranked team in the nation's Northern Collegiate Hockey Association mark to 11-1-1. St. Norbert fell to 4-15-1 overall and 2-10-1 in the league.
The same two teams will face off against at St. Norbert Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
