Foresters Roll at Marian, Extend Unbeaten Streak to Eight Games

Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com
Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com

Junior goaltender Jacque Rogers held an opponent scoreless for the sixth time in her last seven starts as Lake Forest prevailed 5-0 at Marian University Saturday night.

Rogers turned away all 25 shots on goal she faced and is now tied-for-sixth in the nation with six shutouts on the year. The victory was the 36th of her career, tying the program record set by Alyssa Wintermute in 2011.

The Marian goaltender was also perfect in the opening period, which ended with the visitors holding a 13-4 advantage in shots on goal.

Lake Forest out-shot the home team 19-7 in the second and started the scoring just 63 seconds into the period. Sophomore forward Megan Lyke netted the official game-winning goal for the second straight Saturday with junior forward Maddie Davis assisting. It was the sixth score of the season for Lyke. An unassisted goal by senior forward Amy Budde two minutes later doubles the visitors' lead and the score remained 2-0 for the rest of the period.

The Foresters' third and fourth goals were separated by just 15 seconds in the third period. Sophomore forward Annie Dalton lit the lamp for the second time this season at the 3:44 mark and junior forward Kristina Bellomo added her third of the year at 3:59. Freshman defenseman Olyvia Opsahl set up Dalton's score and recorded her second assist of the period when Budde closed out the scoring at 11:07. It was the second straight two-goal game for Budde, who has a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association-leading 18 goals and team-high 27 points this season. She finished the series with five points and has scored or assisted on 9 of Lake Forest's 13 goals in the past two weekends.

Shot on goal were 15-14 in favor of the Foresters in the final period and the visitors had a 47-25 edge in that category on the night.

The victory gave Lake Forest a 6-0-2 mark in the last eight games and the team is now 14-4-5 overall and 11-1-4 in NCHA play this season. Marian fell to 5-15-3 overall and 4-10-2 in the league.

The Foresters will close out the regular season at the College of St. Scholastica next weekend. Friday night's game will begin at 7:00 and the teams will face off again Saturday at 4:00 p.m.