Sophomore forward Amy Budde scored the winning goal in the second overtime of a decisive minigame on Saturday to send the Lake Forest College women's hockey team to next Saturday's Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Slaats Cup Final.
Budde's goal was the Foresters' only score in more than 100 minutes of hockey on the night and, technically, it does not even count on her tally for the season.
After defeating the College of St. Scholastica 2-1 Friday night in game one of the teams' Slaats Cup semifinal series, Lake Forest fell 2-0 to the Saints on Saturday. A 20-minute minigame was used to decide which team would advance in the conference playoffs. Neither team scored in those 20 minutes or in the ensuing 20-minute overtime period. The Saints were assessed a tripping penalty at the 5:07 mark of the second overtime and, with just five seconds remaining on the power play, Budde netted the goal that kept the Foresters' season alive.
The loss in Saturday night's regulation game dropped Lake Forest's overall record on the season to 21-5-1. St. Scholastica finished the year 14-11-2. The result and statistics of the minigame do not count on the teams' or players' records.
The Foresters will travel to Adrian College for next Saturday's NCHA Slaats Cup final, which will begin at 2:00 p.m. (EST).
