Sophomore forward Bron Loiselle posted his first career hat trick as the Lake Forest College men's hockey team prevailed 5-2 at Finlandia University on Friday.
Loiselle's goals were his 10th, 11th, and 12th of the season, tying him for third place in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association. He joined senior forward Jack Lewis as the only Foresters in the last 11 years with a hat trick and a three-assist game in the same season.
Lake Forest senior forward Anthony Annunziato started the scoring on Friday with his fifth goal of the year. He was assisted by junior forward Billy Kent and sophomore forward Drew Cleereman at the 3:54 mark of the opening period. The visitors had a 15-5 advantage in shots on goal but led by just one tally after 20 minutes of play.
Lewis and sophomore forward Cody Guidorzi assisted Loiselle less than a minute into the second period and again at 17:25, making the score 3-0. The Foresters' advantage in shots was even more significant in the second at 18-3.
The Lions got on the scoreboard at 6:41 in the third but Loiselle completed his hat trick and restored Lake Forest's three-goal lead just 57 seconds later. The score was set up by a pair of defensemen, senior Travis Hill and freshman Reed Scahill. Hill then netted his fourth goal of the year at 13:15 with Scahill and sophomore forward Vito Aluia assisting.
Finlandia closed out the scoring with just 41 seconds to play in the contest.
Lake Forest out-shot the home team 14-5 in the final period and 47-13 on the afternoon.
Forester senior goaltender Billy Cooper made 11 saves and improved his record 5-3-0.
The victory improved Lake Forest's overall record to 13-9-0 and NCHA mark to 9-8-0. Finlandia lost for the 24th time in as many games this season. The same two teams will face off again Saturday at 5:00 p.m. (ET).
