The Forester men's hockey team posted a 5-4 victory at the University of Wisconsin-Stout Saturday night to earn a split in the weekend series.
Five different players scored for Lake Forest, beginning with junior forward Tyler Nielsen at the 18:43 mark of the opening period. His power play goal was assisted by senior defenseman Scotty Nicholson, who had a pair of helpers on the night. Nielsen is now tied for the team lead with four goals on the year.
Stout evened the score at 8:12 in the second but the visitors regained the lead jut 95 seconds later on sophomore forward Tyler Buonopane's second of the season. Sophomore forward Connor Tartaglione earned the first of his two assists on the night.
Already ahead 2-1 after 40 minutes of play, Lake Forest pulled away with three straight scores in the third period. Sophomore forward Noah Furman struck for the second time this season at the 4:13 mark and freshman forward Justin Ross joined Nielsen with four on the year at 7:10. Sophomore forward Jared Gerger found the empty net with 2:14 remaining for his third of the season and the outcome appeared to be a foregone conclusion.
The Blue Devils began their comeback bid with a power play score at 19:06 and continued to draw closer with additional tallies at 19:27 and 19:43.
Time eventually ran out on the home team and the Foresters boarded the bus home victorious on the evening and 3-3-1 so far this season. Stout fell to 5-1-0.
Lake Forest will resume Northern Collegiate Hockey Association play against Aurora University next weekend. The teams will face off in Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Friday night at 7:00 and at Aurora Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
