Foresters Knock Off 10th-Ranked Team in Nation

Photo by Amanda Walker
Photo by Amanda Walker

Junior goaltender Jacque Rogers made a season-high 36 saves as Lake Forest hosted and defeated the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, the 10th-ranked team in the nation, Friday night.

Rogers made 15 saves in the first 20 minutes and the home team took the lead at the 6:39 mark on the third goal of the year for junior forward Maddie Davis. Sophomore forward Annie Dalton assisted on the only score of the opening period.

The Foresters doubled their lead at 11:13 in the second on sophomore defenseman Jordan Trapp's third score of the season. She was assisted by freshman defenseman Olyvia Opsahl, who has now set up seven goals this year. Rogers stopped all eight shots on goal she faced and Lake Forest took a 2-0 lead into the final period.

The Blugolds put 14 shots on goal in the third, including the only one that got past Rogers at the 16:32 mark. The visitors went on the power play eight seconds earlier and pulled their goaltender, giving them six skaters on the ice to the Foresters' four. The Eau Claire goalie exited the ice again with 2:04 remaining and Forester senior forward Amy Budde finally hit the empty net from the other end of the ice with 15.6 seconds on the clock. Assists were credited to junior forward Kate Fanning and defenseman Julia Unterseher on the game-clinching goal. It was the team-high 11th score of 2018-19 for Budde.

The victory improved Rogers' record on the year to 4-3-2 and she lowered her goals against average to 1.75 and raised her save percentage to .933.

Lake Forest is now 8-3-3 and Eau Claire 9-4-2. The same two teams will face off again Saturday afternoon at 2:00.