The Lake Forest College women's soccer team pulled away in the second half and posted a 5-2 victory over visiting Ripon College in the championship game of the Midwest Conference Tournament on Saturday. The Foresters will be making their second trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last three seasons.
The Foresters started fast, scoring the game's first goal just 51 seconds into the contest. Freshman Kayla Wuest scored it from the left side after taking a pass from junior Michelle Greeneway. It was Wuest's eighth goal of the season.
Ripon tied the game at the 25:14 mark and the score remained 1-1 for the rest of the first period.
Lake Forest had an 8-5 advantage in shot in the first 45 minutes and a 15-8 edge after halftime.
The Foresters regained the lead at 51:19 when junior Ellen Rogers headed a Ripon goal kick back into the box and classmate Michelle Greeneway beat the defenders to the ball and kicked it past the goalie.
The official game-winning goal was scored by sophomore Katelyn Hronek at 54:03. A Ripon defender's clear following a corner kick was settled by Hronek and she lofted it over the keeper from 20 yards out for her fourth score of the season.
Greeneway added to the lead just 21 seconds later. She took a pass, dribbled into the box, beat a defender, and kicked it past the goalie with her left foot. Greeneway had five goals and four assists in the Foresters' two tournament games and improved her single-season school records to 32 goals and 77 points.
Junior Holly Lesperance closed out the scoring for the home team with 9:24 to play when she headed in a corner kick from classmate Sam Hillis. It was the 13th goal of the year for Lesperance and Hillis extended her program record for assists in a season to 19.
The Red Hawks scored their second goal with seven-and-a-half minutes to play. They were making their first appearance in the conference tournament and finished the season with a 13-7-0 record.
Lake Forest sophomore goaltender Rachel Tenuta made five saves and is now 16-0-0 on the season.
The Foresters will take a 20-0-0 record into the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament next weekend. The NCAA will release the bracket during its selection show Monday at noon (click here).