The Forester women's hockey team hosted and defeated Aurora University 5-1 at the Winter Club in Lake Forest Tuesday night. It was the first outdoor game in the program's history.
On a cold and windy evening, the Foresters took the early lead on a score by sophomore forward Lexi Morgan at the 10:42 mark of the opening period. Fellow sophomore Sydney Simone assisted on Morgan's team-high-tying 12th goal of the year. Morgan and freshman forward Megan Lyke then earned assists on a goal by freshman forward Annie Dalton with just 17 seconds on the clock, giving Lake Forest a 2-0 lead as the team headed into the clubhouse at the first intermission.
Dalton struck for the second time on the night and seventh time this season exactly eight minutes into the second period. Lyke aassisted once again. The Spartans were whistled for a penalty 24 seconds later and, less than a minute into the power play opportunity, senior forward Olivia Spellmire made the score 4-0 with her 11th goal of the year.
The Foresters entered the night having shut out each of their last five opponents, beginning with Aurora on Novrember 12. Including the end of the game at Aurora the night before, the longest shutout streak in program history lasted 321 minutes and 49 seconds before the Spartans netted a power play goal Tuesday night at the 15:55 mark of the second period. Lake Forest responded with its second power play score of the game just 59 seconds later. It was the third score of the season for freshman forward/defenseman Jordan Trapp.
The crowd along the boards thinned a little as the cold night wore on and the goaltenders kept their opponents from scoring again in the contest. Forester senior Jacquie Audet stopped eight of nine Aurora shots on goal on the night and improved to 3-2-0 on the season.
Lake Forest outshot the visitors 47-9 on the night and now have a 550-141 advantage over their opponents in that category after 11 games this season.
The victory improved the Foresters' overall record on the year to 8-3-0 while Aurora fell to 1-10-0 in its first year as a program at the NCAA level.
It was the final game of the fall semester for Lake Forest. The team will begin the 2018 portion of its schedule with a series against visiting Saint Mary's University on Saturday and Sunday, January 6-7.
