Lake Forest edged out visiting Concordia University Wisconsin 2-1 Saturday afternoon to tie their Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Slaats Cup quarterfinal series. After falling behind early in the decisive 20-minute minigame, the Foresters rattled off three straight goals to advance to the semifinals.
After dropping Friday night's series opener and allowing the only goal of the opening period on Saturday, the Foresters were faced with the prospects of their season coming to a premature end. Senior forward Lexi Morgan then netted a power play goal at the 9:02 mark of the second, tying the score at one. Senior defenseman Julia Unterseher assisted on Morgan's eighth tally of the year.
The game-winner came off the stick of junior forward Annie Dalton with 2:01 remaining in the second. The unassisted score was her second goal of the year.
Lake Forest had a 38-15 advantage in shots in the game but was unable to add to its lead. Fortunately for the home team, senior goaltender Jacque Rogers kept the Falcons off the scoreboard after the early goal and improved to 13-7-0 with a .935 save percentage and 1.86 goals against average this season.
The Foresters fell behind again in the minigame, allowing a goal less than three minutes into the contest.
Freshman Marissa Gebauer eventually tied the game with just 5:37 remaining. She weaved through the entire Concordia Wisconsin defense before beating the goalie glove-side for the stress-relieving score. Morgan then put the Foresters on top with 2:01 to play. Assists were credited to senior forwards Kate Fanning and Sydney Simone on the play. Unterseher, who assisted on Gebauer's goal, added an empty net score at 18:48 after skating with the puck from one end of the ice to the other.
Lake Forest had a 17-3 edge in shots on goal in the minigame.
The Foresters are now 16-10-1 on the year while Concordia Wisconsin finished its season at 9-15-2.
Lake Forest's opponent in next Friday night's semifinal round will be the winner of the series between the College of St. Scholastica and host Aurora University, which will conclude on Sunday. Friday's semifinal and Saturday's final will be played at Adrian College with the Bulldogs having already secured a spot in Saturday's Slaats Cup Championship Game.
