Foresters Start Slow, Finish Strong in Victory over Finlandia

Photos by Yanna Glaspy
Photos by Yanna Glaspy

Sophomore forward Emelia Edmondson and freshman forward Kelly McCullough each scored her first goal as a Forester Friday night in the team's 8-1 win over visiting Finlandia University.

Lake Forest trailed 1-0 after the opening period, despite out-shooting the Lions 30-3 in the game's first 30 minutes.

The home team continue to put shots on net, racking up 35 more to Finlandia's 10 in the second stanza and finally taking control of the scoreboard with three tallies in a three-minute span. Freshman forward Melissa Gebauer started the rally at the 9:26 mark with her second of the year and senior forward Sydney Simone scored the official game-winner at 11:45. Sophomore defenseman Megan Truman picked up an assist on Simone's tally, which was followed up just 36 seconds later by Edmondson's goal.

Leading 3-1 after two periods, the Foresters pulled away in the third, beginning just 31 seconds in with junior forward Kate Fanning's fourth of the year. She was assisted by Simone and junior defenseman Jordan Trapp. Trapp picked up another helper at the 6:27 mark on sophomore defenseman Olyvia Opsahl's second score of the season. Simone then struck for the second time on the night and team-high sixth time this season at 8:45. She also became just the eighth player in program history with as many as three short-handed goals in a season. Edmondson assisted senior forward Kristina Bellomo's second of the year with 1:31 on the clock and, before the public address announcer could finish announcing the goal, McCullough closed out the scoring at 18:41. Senior forward Maddie Davis and junior forward Megan Lyke earned assists on the play and increased the number of Foresters with at least one point in the contest to 11.

Lake Forest had a 20-6 advantage in shots in the final period and an 85-19 edge on the night.

After surrendering a goal early in the contest, Forester senior Jacque Rogers kept Finlandia from scoring the rest of the way and finished with 18 saves. She improved to 5-5-0 with a .913 save percentage this season.

The victory raised the Foresters' overall record to 7-8-1 and Northern Collegiate Hockey Association mark to 4-2-1. Finlandia fell to 0-12-0 overall and 0-7-0 in the league. The same two teams will face off again in Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon at 2:00.