The Lake Forest College men's hockey team was defeated 3-2 by visiting Marian University Saturday night. Senior Zach Kozak's goal at 19:22 in the third period brought the Foresters to within one but they were unable to score again in the closing seconds.
The Sabres scored the game's first goal at the 5:13 mark of the opening period.
The score remained 1-0 until Lake Forest sophomore Phil Bushbacher netted his team-high ninth goal of the season three minutes and 41 seconds into the second. Fellow sophomore Ethan Goldberg and senior Anthony Ventura assisted on the score.
Forester junior goaltender Marc Stuart stopped 20 of 21 shots on goal through 40 minutes of play and 30 of 33 in the contest.
Marian regained the lead just 28 seconds into the third period and only five seconds into a power play opportunity. The Sabres then extended their advantage to two goals with 4:51 to play in the period.
Stuart came out of the game in favor of an extra attacker with 1:04 on the clock and the move paid off when Kozak lit the lamp 26 seconds later. Bushbacher and sophomore Justin Crawford assisted on Kozak's third goal of the year. Bushbacher took over the team lead in points with 16, all but two of which were recorded during the team's eight games in 2011.
Stuart exited the ice again with 30 seconds remaining but the Foresters were unable to tie the score.
Lake Forest is now 4-14-1 overall and 4-9-1 in Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association play. Marian, which began the week among the others receiving votes in USCHO.com's top 15 poll, raised its overall record to 14-5-0 and league mark to 11-3-0.
Next weekend the Foresters will travel to #8 Adrian College and will face off against the Bulldogs Friday night at 7:00 (EST) and again the following afternoon at 3:00. Live stats for both games will be available on Adrian's website. Saturday's contest will be part of Adrian's Breast Cancer Awareness Day and fans are encouraged to wear pick.
