Sophomore forward Joe Sardina extended his point streak to eight games but the Foresters fell 4-2 to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the top-ranked team in the country, Saturday night.
The Pointers wasted no time getting on the board as they opened the scoring just 16 seconds into the game. They increased their lead to two at the 7:05 mark.
After a slashing call at 13:41 in the first period, the Foresters went to work on the first power play of the night. Sophomore forward Austin Aksoy was able to beat the goalie low far side from the top of the left circle with 84 seconds later to make the score 2-1. Assists went to a pair of defenseman, sophomore Mark Dermanulian and junior Zach Feldman.
Unfortunately for Lake Forest, the Pointers grabbed a power play tally of their own with just 49 seconds left in the first, making it a 3-1 lead. Shots were in favor of Stevens Point 13-6 after the first 20 minutes.
A scoreless second period saw a pair of penalties against Lake Forest and four on Stevens Point. The visitors had a slight 10-8 advantage in shots on goal in the frame.
The third period was jammed packed with stopping and starting with a total of eight penalties called. Stevens Point made it a 4-1 lead with just under four minutes to go. The penalty boxes held two Pointers and a Forester late in the contest and, with an extra attacker on the ice for the home team, DerManulian blasted one from the point. The rebound was smacked out of the air and into the goal by Sardina, making it a two-goal game again with just 39 seconds to play. It was the team-high sixth score of the season for Sardina.
The loss dropped the Foresters' record on the year to 5-4-3 while Stevens Point remained unbeaten at 12-0-2.
Lake Forest will not be back on the ice for a game until December 30 when the team hosts Babson College at 4:00 p.m.
