The Lake Forest College men's lacrosse team came back several times to post a 10-7 victory at Cornell College on Saturday.
The Rams took the lead three times in the opening quarter but the first two goals were answered by Forester freshman Chas Dean and the third by classmate Bode Rubright with 2:42 to play in the period. Dean completed his second hat trick of the year and gave the visitors the lead a minute later and sophomore John Casey made it a 5-3 game when the teams changed directions.
Cornell accounted for four of the five goals in the second period with Rubright providing Lake Forest's lone tally. He also earned his first two career assists earlier in the game and Saturday's four-point performance raised his season total in that category to 16.
Trailing 7-6 at halftime, the Foresters held the Rams scoreless the rest of the way.
Freshman Jack Langworthy's 13th goal of the season tied the score with 5:52 remaining in the third period and Casey gave Lake Forest the lead at the 3:51 mark.
The score remained 8-7 in favor of the visitors until Casey completed his fifth hat trick with and raised his team-high goal total on the year to 28 with 4:26 to play in the contest. Dean added another insurance goal, his season-high fourth of the game and 14th of the year, with 2:18 left.
Freshman goalie Andrew Widlar entered the game at the beginning of the second half and stopped all six of the Rams' shots on goal in the game's final 30 minutes to earn the victory.
Fellow freshman Conor Murphy was also instrumental in the Foresters' efforts on defense and led the team with seven ground balls and four caused turnovers.
Lake Forest improved to 5-6 overall while Cornell fell to 6-8. Both teams are now 3-1 in Midwest Lacrosse Conference play.
