Sophomore forward Josh Giacomin earned his first career hat trick and the Foresters rolled to a 6-1 win over the College of St. Schoastica at home Friday evening.
It was the second four-point performance of the season for Giacomin, who also assisted on one of two goals by junior forward Aaron O'Neill during a 5-minute power play early in the second period.
All but one of the five goals on the night from Giacomin and O'Neill were assisted by sophomore forward Will Lebel, who turned in the first four-assist game by a Forester in 10 years. Fellow sophomore forward Kyle Cote added two more helpers and freshman forward Ryan Kropp tacked on his first career goal late in the contest. He is the 18th player on the squad to score this season.
Giacomin took over the team lead in goals with 10 while O'Neill's scores were his sixth and seventh of the year.
After a scoreless opening period, O'Neill struck twice and Giacomin once to give the home team a 3-0 advantage. The Saints got one back later in the second but two goals by Giacomin, including a shorthanded score, and one from Kropp in the third put the game out of reach. Lake Forest out-shot the Saints 43-24 and Forester junior goaltender Boyd DiClemente improved to 14-1-1 with a 2.16 goals against average and .920 save percentage on the season.
The victory was the seventh-ranked Foresters' 10th in a row, the second-longest streak in program history behind a 14-gamer to start the 1977-78 season. Lake Forest is now 15-2-1 overall and 12-1-0 in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association while St. Scholastica fell to 5-13-1 overall and 3-11-1 in the league.
The same two teams will face off again in Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon at 3:00. It will be Lake Forest's Alumni Day and the annual Peter Taylor Award presentation will take place before the contest.
