The Lake Forest College women's hockey team hosted and defeated Marian University 4-1 Friday night in game one of their Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Slaats Cup Quarterfinal Series.
It was a comeback victory for the Foresters, who surrendered the only goal of the opening period at the 5:20 mark. The home team had a 23-10 advantage in shots on goal in the game's first 20 minutes but trailed when the buzzer sounded.
Lake Forest outshot the Sabres 15-4 in the second stanza and finally tied the score with 1:23 remaining on the clock. Senior forward Emelia Edmondson gained control of puck behind and to the right of the Marian goal and skated out between the circles before turning and firing a shot into the net for her fifth goal of the season and 10th point in the last eight games. Sophomore forward Caitlyn Dahut and senior defenseman Megan Truman assisted on the power play goal.
The Foresters took the lead two-and-a-half minutes into the third period on junior forward Kelly McCullough's second score this season. She intercepted a pass near mid-ice, skated toward the goal from the right side, and beat the goalie stick side for her first career game-winning goal.
The score remained 2-1 until the 14:22 mark when Lake Forest sophomore defenseman Grace Garby netted her first career goal. Junior forward Stokli Ashcraft skated in from the left side before sending a cross-ice pass to Garby, who lifted a shot over the goalie's glove from a difficult angle for the score.
Trailing by two, the Sabres pulled their goaltender with more than two-and-a-half minutes remaining and Forester senior defenseman Olyvia Opsahl finally found the open net with 13.9 seconds on the clock. Opsahl's eighth score of the year was assisted by junior forward Marissa Gebauer and freshman defenseman Abby Meyer and extended her goal streak to five games.
Lake Forest put 49 shots on goal to Marian's 18 on the night.
Forester junior goaltender Hannah Turnage allowed exactly one goal for the fifth consecutive contest and now owns a .935 save percentage and 1.98 goals againsts average this year.
The victory raised Lake Forest's record to 14-9-0 while Marian fell to 7-17-2. The teams will face off again in Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse in game two of the series Saturday afternoon at 2:00. The Sabres need a victory to push the series to a decisive 20-minute minigame, which would begin shortly after the completion of game two.
