Lake Forest College women's hockey team came from behind three times and posted a 5-3 victory over St. Norbert College Friday night in the semifinals of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Slaats Cup Playoffs. Freshman forward Leah Ebdon scored what proved to be the game-winning goal with 6:41 to play in the contest.
Ebdon's goal was her second of the season and was assisted by senior forward Marissa Weber. The Foresters tacked on an empty net goal by junior forward Michelle Greeneway with 14 seconds remaining to secure the victory. Greeneway's team-high 17th score of the year occurred after tge Green Knights had been playing with an extra attacker for more than a minute-and-a-half.
St. Norbert took the lead three times in the game, beginning with the only goal of the opening period at the 2:57 mark.
Lake Forest tied the score just 18 seconds into the second period on junior defenseman Alex Stensland's second score this season. The power play goal was assisted by Greeneway.
After the Green Knights regained the lead at the 10:15 mark of the second period, the Foresters tied it again at 16:56 on a power play goal by junior forward Melissa Paluch. Stensland assisted on the 11th goal of the year for Paluch.
The score remained 2-2 until St. Norbert took the lead for a third time at 6:19 in the third. Just 54 seconds passed before Lake Forest pulled even again on an unassisted goal by junior forward Holly Lesperance. It was her seven score of the season.
The Foresters outshot the Green Knights 11-7 in the first period but St. Norbert had an 18-9 advantage in shots on goal in the second. Both teams had eight attempts on target in the final 20 minutes.
Lake Forest junior goaltender Allie Carter made 30 saves in the contest, including 17 in the second period. She is now 7-6-2 with a .912 save percentage and 2.12 goals against average on the year.
The Foresters are now 13-8-3 and St. Norbert 16-7-4 this season.
NCHA regular season champion Adrian College is hosting this weekend's semifinal and final rounds of the league's postseason tournament. Adrian, ranked fourth in the nation, fell 2-1 to Concordia University Wisconsin in the other semifinal. Lake Forest and Concordia Wisconsin will face off at 2:00 p.m. (EST) tomorrow afternoon with the winner claiming the Slaats Cup and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
