The Forester men's lacrosse team doubled up visiting Cornell College 12-6 on Wednesday in the semifinals of the Midwest Lacrosse Conference Tournament.
Lake Forest accounted for the only two goals of the opening period but the score was tied 4-4 at halftime.
Scoring in the decisive third quarter was started by Forester sophomore John Casey at the 13:15 mark. A score by freshman Chas Dean, two by classmate Luke Bowers, and one more by fellow freshman Bode Rubright in the next six minutes put the home team on top by five. A Lake Forest penalty led to the Rams' only goal of the period and the teams entered the final stanza with Lake Forest leading by four.
Casey netted his team-high 33rd goal of the season with 11:33 to play and, after a Cornell tally at 5:55, Dean assisted Bowers and then came up with the game's final goal, his 19th of the year, in the next two-and-a-half minutes.
Bowers finished the contest with a career-high five goals and now has 16 this spring.
Freshman Andrew Eisenman led the Foresters with five ground balls while Rubright caused a team-high five turnovers.
Lake Forest freshman goalie Andrew Widlar made a season-high 16 saves, including five in the final period, and added three ground balls and a caused turnover. He has stopped nearly 68 percent of opponents' shots on goal in the last four games combined.
The Foresters are now 8-6 and assured of a winning record in their first season as a varsity sport since 1994. Cornell's year ends at 7-10.
Lake Forest will travel to the University of Dubuque for Saturday's MLC Tournament final. The winner of the game will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
