Senior defenseman Julia Unterseher gave Lake Forest the early lead but the home team was unable to hold on in a 3-2 loss to visiting Concordia University Wisconsin Friday night in the opener of their Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Slaats Cup quarterfinal series.
Unterseher's power play goal at the 3:23 mark of the opening period was assisted by senior forwards Lexi Morgan and Sydney Simone. Unterseher now has five scores this season while Simone is just a point away from becoming the sixth player in program history with 100 in her career.
The Falcons also converted on their first power play opportunity of the night, tying the game at the 15:31 mark. The visitors pulled ahead six minutes into the second stanza and finished the night 2-for-2 on the power play after taking advantage of a Forester in the penalty box a minute-and-a-half later.
Trailing 3-1 after two periods of play, the Foresters closed to within one with 10:39 on the clock on senior forward Maddie Davis' fourth goal this season.
Lake Forest outshot Concordia Wisconsin 17-10 in the final period and 42-31 for the game but was unable to tie the score.
The loss dropped the Foresters to 15-10-1 on the season while the Falcons improved to 9-14-2. The teams will play game two of the series Saturday afternoon at 3:00. A Lake Forest victory would force them to return to the ice after the contest for a 20-minute minigame to decide the series.
