Senior defenseman Kayla Griffith scored the Foresters' first goal of 2018 but the Lake Forest College women's hockey team was defeated 3-2 by visiting Saint Mary's University on Saturday.
Griffith's shot from the point found its was through traffic in front of the goal and into the back of the net at the 3:45 mark of the opening period. Her third goal of the season was set up by freshman forward Megan Lyke and senior forward Olivia Spellmire, the program's career leader in assists. Spellmire's 103rd point over the last four seasons broke her tie with current Forester assistant coach Melissa Paluch for third place in program history.
Lake Forest had a slight 9-8 advantage in shots on goal in the game's first 20 minutes and still led 1-0 at the first intermission.
The Cardinals tied the score at the 9:13 mark of the second and, despite the Foresters' 14-8 edge in shots in the period, it appeared the teams would head into the locker room knotted at one. A power play goal off the stick of sophomore forward Sydney Simone just before the buzzer sounded, however, put the home team back on top. It was the sixth score of the season for Simone, who was assisted by junior forward Amy Budde and sophomore defenseman Julia Unterseher.
The Foresters outshot their guests 11-10 in the third but Saint Mary's netted the only two goals of the period just 21 seconds apart. The Cardinals tied the score at the 9:38 mark and, after a Lake Forest penalty at 9:54, converted the power play opportunity just five second later.
The home team played without a goaltender for the game's final 56 seconds but was unable to tie the score.
The non-conference loss dropped the Foresters' record on the season to 8-4-0 while Saint Mary's evened their mark at 6-6-0. The same two teams will face off again in Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Sunday afternoon at 2:00.